Dallas Architecture Blog discusses Modern architecture and Mid Century Modern
Homes, Dallas Neighborhoods, Dallas Real Estate and the Aesthetics of the City.

Architect Lionel Morrison, FAIA, Morrison Dilworth + Walls

Lionel Morrison, FAIA

One Arts Plaza. Architect Lionel Morrison, FAIA, Morrison Seifert Murphy

International Business Park. Architect Lionel Morrison, FAIA, Morrison Seifert Murphy

Mark Dilworth, AIA

Mark Dilworth was the design director and CEO of Omniplan created by E.G. Hamilton , famous for designing the original NorthPark Center. Under the leadership of Mark Dilworth, Omniplan designed the internationally acclaimed expanded NorthPark Center.

NorthPark Center. Architect Mark Dilworth, AIA, Omniplan

Some Partners in Large Architectural Firms Dream
of Creating Small Firms

While some architects create small firms with the dream of building a large firm, Lionel Morrison and Mark Dilworth ran large firms and dreamed of creating a small firm with a high design impact. As young architects, Lionel Morrison and Mark Dilworth started with drawing boards next to each other in the E.G. Hamilton studio at Omniplan. While they were both proud of their accomplishments and the projects designed, they became excited about putting their drawing boards next to each other once again in a small studio. To allow their passion for design, Cari Walls, whose career was also at Omniplan joined Lionel Morrison and Mark Dilworth to manage the business side of their new firm, Morrison Dilworth + Walls and MDW Studio.

NorthPark Center. Architect Mark Dilworth, AIA, Omniplan

Potential Architecture Projects for MDW Studio

Tollway Plaza. Architect Mark Dilworth, AIA, Omniplan

Potential projects include architectural work in Beijing. Some developers seek the specific talents of architects like Lionel Morrison whose experience is in residential, office and some mixed-use retail, and architects like Mark Dilworth whose experience includes modern office buildings and designing the most successful shopping center in the country. MDW Studio clients enjoy  dealing directly with Morrison and Dilworth and the talented architects of the firm who will personally be designing the projects at Morrison Dilworth + Walls.

Lionel Morrison Continues to Design Modern Homes

Lionel Morrison continues to design elegant modern residences. In Northern Heights,  Lionel Morrison designed a modern home just a few blocks away from the first modern home he designed over two decades ago.

Architect Lionel Morrison, FAIA, Morrison Dilworth + Walls

Many of the great modern houses in Dallas have been designed by internationally famous architects like Philip Johnson or Edward Larabee Barnes or Frank Lloyd Wright, who had originally come to Dallas to design office buildings or museums. In Dallas, Lionel Morrison, FAIA, is designing office and retail buildings around the country and continues to design architecturally significant homes in Dallas.

A Bad Economy Creates the Best Architecture

This was the title of a blog article three years ago,  Bad Times, Best Architecture, explaining why many of the best architectural projects come during a bad economy.  Here is another example, not discussed in the article, where economic turmoil, uncertainty, and a bad economy force firms to decide whether they are going to plow along and do any kind of work to keep architects busy or to concentrate and spend more time on the best architectural projects. In the case of Lionel Morrsion, Mark Dilworrth and Cari Walls, they left profitable firms as they determined an uncertain economy is the perfect environment to emphasize design and high quality projects that demand extraordinary talent, uninterrupted by the trial and tribulation of a large firm in a sluggish economy.

Large Architectural Firms Have the Potential to be Technological and Structural Innovators or Just Labor Pools for Small Design-Intensive Firms

Some large architectural firms like Skidmore, Owings & Merrill dedicate a great amount of resources for research and development. This enables them to create, design and build structures that previously could not be imagined. Some large firms are so burdened by bureaucracy and preoccupation with deal flow, to keep their architects busy, that design becomes secondary. Nevertheless, these large firms can join projects with small firms, as they have talented and competent architects who are delighted to work alongside or under the direction of a small design firm, creating the volumes of drawings and specs that a substantial project requires.

One World Trade Center. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

Great Projects are Coming Out of the Ground

In the last three years, architects have had the time to design great projects. Now the economy and the mood of the country is to push forward and build those projects. While there has been much hand wringing and consternation in the architectural community, the reevaluating of priorities, the reimagining of firms and architectural practices has created an incredible platform for future creativity and good works.

See Architecturally Significant Modern Homes on Facebook for more photographs on modern homes designed by architect Lionel Morrison, FAIA.

The American Institute of Architects, Dallas Chapter presented the Honor Award to wernerfield architecture + design, a young firm founded by architects Braxton Werner and Paul Field, for the modern home they designed in one of my favorite neighborhoods and for one of my favorite clients.

Modern Home in Northern Hills, Another Triumph

A sophisticated homeowner and client, with experience commissioning emerging architects to design and articulate a modern home, chose architects Braxton Werner and Paul Field to design a modern home in the Northern Hills neighborhood. Once again, this client participated in an architectural triumph. This architectural collaboration of homeowner and architect was recognized by the AIA, Dallas Chapter with the 2011 Honor Award for a residence.

Architects Retained for Site Specific Modern Home

For over ten years, these homeowners loved living in their last architect designed home in Preston Hollow, but desired a slightly larger home on a considerably smaller lot. They retained architects Braxton Werner and Paul Field to design a site specific modern home in a small, secluded 1920s eclectic neighborhood bordered by Highland Park on two sides, the Katy Trail on one side and Turtle Creek Park on the downtown side. Paramount to the design of the home was retaining a towering oak tree with a massive canopy on the front of this Northern Hills lot.

Contemporary Home Recedes From Neighborhood and Embraces Neighborhood

The massing of this 3,400 square foot home reflects the height of the one- and two-story homes in the neighborhood. A uniform setback on the block is maintained by a stacked stone wall that intersects with the one-story wing of the home that is closest to the street.

The intersecting two-story wing is pushed to the rear of the site to protect the homeowner’s privacy and to more subtly contrast with the predominantly eclectic homes in the neighborhood. The walls of windows and balcony on the second floor allow the homeowners to enjoy the leafy tree-lined curving streets of their Northern Hills neighborhood as they look over the pool and courtyard.

Intersecting Planes of Architectural Materials – Stone, Plaster and Glass Create Courtyard for Entrance and Pool

Once you are in the courtyard, you will feel as if you are in the home even before your passage through the home’s formal front door. This sensation is created by the floor-to-ceiling glazed walls and sliding doors. Opening the mahogany and glass sliding doors creates a 24 foot opening from the living room with polished white walls and polished concrete floor to the courtyard and pool. Once you are back in the courtyard there is still the sensation you are in the heart of the home, and when inside the home, there is still the sensation you are in an outdoor space.

Sliding Glass Doors and Terrace Expand Public Spaces

One enters the home’s courtyard through a pivoting rusticated steel door, penetrating the stacked stone entrance wall. Another door, one that is wood and also pivoting, takes one into an entry. Here, the exterior stacked stone outside wall continues uninterrupted inside. The transition from outside to inside is compressed, which allows another quick transition to the open core of the house – the kitchen, living room and the glazed doors opening wide to the terrace and pool, combining the outdoor and indoor spaces.

A Site Impacts the Design – The Architects Re-imagine the Site

A city lot surrounded by 1920s and 1930s homes seems to call for an eclectic design in order to be respectful of the neighborhood. Braxton Werner, AIA, and Paul Field, AIA, recognized a very modern house could be compatible with the neighborhood and created a dynamic modern design that is oriented to capture the breezes, provide shade in the hot summer months, and allow sunlight from the low winter sun to illuminate and warm the house.

The two-story section of the house backs up to a Highland Park estate, properly buffered by well over an acre of land. The stacked stone wall blends into the environment and the towering trees are the dominant feature of the streetscape. Here is a great example of a modern home that gracefully provides architectural interest and credibility to a traditional neighborhood.

The best modern homes receive attention and awards when they are first designed, continue to influence the architectural landscape, and remain compelling 25 years later. This Preston Hollow modern home designed in 1985 continues to be an example of great architecture in 2010.

Renovation Design of This Contemporary Architectural Achievement

Some architects cannot stand to see any tampering with their original work, but many of the finest and most self-confident architects do enjoy seeing a thoughtful massage of the original design. Materials, technology and client resources change. For example, sometimes an expensive standing seam copper roof has to be cut for budgetary reasons during the original construction, and then a renovation allows it to be reinstated in the design. Modern architecture draws from classic design and explores contemporary thought. Renovation allows the best ideas to survive and the others to be edited.

Gary Cunningham Designs Renovation of His Own Award Winning Architecture

What fun when an architect is invited to revisit one of his or her architectural projects. The renovation stakes are even higher when the original design is iconic, celebrated and lasting. Gary Cunningham not only accepted the invitation to design the renovation of his own work, he accepted the invitation twice from the same client. The first renovation Gary Cunningham designed included the kitchen; the second renovation design Gary Cunningham did on this modern house included the master bathroom.

Successful Renovation is the Result of a Great House, Great Architecture and a Great Client

Here on Northaven the renovation was so successful because the design had been tested by time and was very good. The client has exquisite taste, a good eye and was committed to only accentuating the original design of this modern home inspired by Mies van der Rohe’s unbuilt brick country house. The Gary Cunningham-designed renovation further enhanced the natural light and art lighting and preserved Post Modern elements that are now translated as pure modern. Magnificent pieces of stone were installed in the kitchen that was opened up. The clean lines of Carrara marble contributed to the sleek, modern master bathroom.

Sited on a Peninsula Overlooking Water

Architects love finding a great site and designing a home that reflects the beauty of the land and setting. Architect Gary Cunningham designed this home with windows overlooking the green terrain, and rooms cantilevered over the water. Here the architect explored the site and designed a home fully integrated into the natural beauty of this setting. As a real estate broker it gives me great pleasure to be able to offer for sale a home of this aesthetic quality.

The Success of the Northaven Modern Home Was Followed with Dozens of Additional Citation, Merit and Honor Awards Given by Texas Society of Architects and Dallas AIA

Here are architectural projects designed by Gary Cunningham, FAIA, including commercial buildings, sacred spaces, schools and residences that have received well deserved awards.

Texas Society of Architects Design Awards

1984 14840 Landmark Office Building, Dallas, Texas
1985 Benchmark Office Building, Longview, Texas
1989 Exhibit of Cunningham Architects at the University of Texas at Arlington
1989 Powerhouse, Dallas, Texas
1990 Steak and Ale Corporate Headquarters, Dallas, Texas
1992 Addison Conference and Theatre Center, Addison, Texas
1992 Cistercian Abbey Church, Irving, Texas
1994 4401 Travis Street Apartments, Dallas, Texas
1997 Latorre Residence, Dallas, Texas
2001 Texas Utilities Customer Service Center, Waco, Texas
2002 Casa Caja, Dallas, Texas
2005 Casa Angosta, Richardson, Texas
2005 Pump Station, Highland Park, Texas
2006 Addison Arts & Events District Pavilion, Addison, Texas
2009 House in the Garden (Nearburg Residence), Dallas, Texas

Dallas Chapter of the AIA Design Awards

1984 Benchmark Office Building, Longview, Texas, Merit Award
1984 14840 Landmark Office Building, Dallas, Texas, Merit Award
1987 Exhibit of Cunningham Architects at the University of Texas at Arlington
1988 Sesler House, Dallas, Texas, Citation Award
1989 Power House, Dallas, Texas, Honor Award
1990 Now/Then/Again, Exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, Merit Award
1990 Grace Lutheran Church, Carrollton, Texas, Merit Award
1992 Addison Conference and Theatre Center, Addison, Texas, Honor Award
1992 Temple Shalom, Epstein Chapel, Dallas, Texas, Citation Award
1993 Cistercian Abbey Church, Irving, Texas, Citation Award
1994 4401 Travis Street Apartments, Dallas, Texas, Merit Award
1995 Prince of Peace Catholic Community, Plano, Texas, Honor Award
1996 Latorre Residence, Dallas, Texas, Merit Award
1998 Cole Avenue Apartments, Dallas, Texas, Merit Award
1998 Healy House, Dallas, Texas, Citation Award
2000 TXU Service Center, Waco, Texas, Merit Award
2000 Dallas International School, Dallas, Texas, Honor Award
2001 Haggerty Art Center, Irving, Texas, Merit Award
2002 Casa Caja, Dallas, Texas, Citation Award
2003 7th Floor Gallery, JFK Museum, Dallas, Texas, Merit Award
2004 Casa Angosta, Richardson, Texas, Merit Award
2004 Addison Arts & Events District Pavilion, Addison, Texas, Honor Award
2008 House on Cedar Hill, Texas, Merit Award
2010 Wimberley Residence, Citation Award

Other Awards

1985 Longview Beautification Award for Benchmark Office Building
1986 Dallas Chapter of AIA, Young Architect of the Year Award
1987 Distinguished Architect of the Year Award, The University of Texas at
Arlington School of Architecture
1989 National Glass Association, Honor Award for the Power House
1989 Delta Sigma Tau Silver Metal Award, Texas Tech University
1989 National Curatorial Award for the Now/Then/Again Exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art
1990 International Association of Lighting Designers Award of Excellence for the Power House
1990 Illuminating Engineering Society Honor Award for the Powerhouse
1991 Illuminating Engineering Society Merit Award for Epstein Chapel
1992 Dallas Theatre Award for The Addison Centre Theatre
1994 International Association of Lighting Designers Award of Excellence for the Cistercian
Abbey Church
1994 Emerging Voices, Architectural League of New York
1995 Young Outstanding Texas Ex, The university of Texas at Austin
2003 Illuminating Engineering Society Merit Award for Sacred Space
2005 Illuminating Engineering Society IIDA Legends Award for Addison Arts & Events District
Pavilion
2006 International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) Merit Award, House in the Garden

November 6 & 7

Dan Shipley Architect

Dallas has had a proliferation of home tours since the first Swiss Avenue Home Tour in 1973. Neighborhood home tours, garden home tours, preservation home tours, and Park Cities home tour have all helped educate the public and refine the taste of those interested in good architecture. My favorite tour has become the AIA Dallas modern home tour on November 6 and 7.

Dallas Modern AIA Home Tour

Modern homes have been the most difficult to access. There are too few modern homes. Also, modern homes are usually designed by an architect for a client so these homes have not been held open like a builder holds open their spec homes for months. The Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects has changed this with the AIA Dallas Tour of Homes. Here architecture aficionados and those just curious have a chance to see a well curated selection of architect designed homes. This modern home tour will give you the chance to see the latest materials and technology, different neighborhoods and locations influencing design, and the architectural approach of very talented architects.

Jim Wiley, FAIA, Designed Magnificent Modern Home in 1956 – See on Tour Magnificent Home Jim Wiley Designed in 2008

Jim Wiley Architect

Jim Wiley, FAIA, as a young architect working with Bud Oglesby, designed the celebrated Kelley house in Highland Park in 1956. Architect Jim Wiley, working with Bob Meckfessel designed this Urban Reserve home in 2008. The celebrated Kelley house received the AIA 25 Year Award during the year Bob James was Dallas AIA president and has long been considered an architectural treasure. The modern home Jim Wiley designed for Dorothea and Bart Kelley has been a cultural hub for 50 years.

Now Jim Wiley, FAIA, has designed a modern home for Gloria Wise. What Dorothea Kelley was to chamber music, Gloria Wise was to architecture. For years Gloria Wise was the incredibly successful and influential executive director of the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. She educated, nurtured, encouraged architects and patrons, and was constantly linking people and promoting good architecture.

It is fantastic that we will be able to see the most recent work of Jim Wiley. I am confident this modern home at 33 Vanguard Way will also become an iconic achievement. The home will be open November 6 and 7, 2010.

Architect Nick Glazbrook Designs for Josey Cooner Collins and Marty Collins

Nick Glazbrook Architect

Nick Glazbrook is an established, talented and decorated architect who has collaborated with Josey Cooner of Scott+Cooner and Marty Collins, the developer of the W in Dallas. All three have made a significant impact on Dallas and you will have a chance to see the Collins residence at 8205 Forest Hills Boulevard on the AIA Dallas Tour of Homes.

Dan Shipley Architect

Dan Shipley Architect

Architect Dan Shipley has received Dallas AIA and TSA Awards. Dan Shipley is not a prolific architect but every one of his modern residences is meritorious which makes being able to see the home at 1550 Stemmons Avenue and 25 Vanguard Way very exciting.

Patrick Alexander, AIA

Patrick Alexander Architect

Architect Patrick Alexander has consistently done strong modernist work and continues to show his ability with the modern home he designed at 3156 Brookhollow Drive.

Architects Hammers + Partners

Hammers + Partners Architecture

Hammers + Partners have had an amazing impact on Kessler Woods. Kessler Woods, a collection of modern homes, has drawn attention from across the country. Many of Dallas’s finest architects have designed homes here, but arguably Hammers + Partners have made the greatest contribution.

Susan Appleton

Susan Appleton Architect

There has been much excitement about the home Susan Appleton designed at 5707 Del Roy Drive and this will be an interesting modern home to see.

bloc-Design Syndicate with Joshua Nimmo, AIA, LEED AP, Stephanie Saunders, LEED AP, Alan Kagan

Joshua Nimmo Architect

There is a great confluence of talent that designed 4414 and 4418 Rusk Avenue. One’s expectations are heightened to see the recent work of Joshua Nimmo, Stephanie Saunders and Alan Kagan on this year’s AIA Dallas Tour of Homes.

Enjoy the 2010 AIA Dallas Tour of Homes

You may buy tickets at the door of any of these homes on tour.

O’Neil Ford Influenced the Timeless Architecture of Scott Lyons and Frank Welch

Why are some modern architectural designs (such as the work of O’Neil Ford, FAIA, Scott Lyons, FAIA, and Frank Welch, FAIA) new, progressive and influential while other modern designs seem trendy and tired at the same time?

The Best Architecture for a Site Creates Timeless Design

Timeless modern architecture is inspired by the site, crafted by the finest artisans, and built using the best technology and materials of the time — those that are familiar as well as technologies and materials that have recently become available. Every era has its achievements from which we build, reinterpret and admire. Great design of any period remains great design.

The Haggerty/Hanley House Designed by O’Neil Ford Draws From Past and Influences Future

The Haggerty/Hanley house that architect O’Neil Ford designed in 1957 is a great example of timeless design. This midcentury Texas modern home draws from Ford’s earlier 1930s Texas modern work as well as that of David Williams, FAIA, which combined elements of European modernism and pioneer houses. This home is artfully situated to emphasize the site and orientation of the home in relationship to the sun much like the first Texas modern home David Williams designed in 1933 on McFarlin Boulevard with views of Turtle Creek. The Haggerty/Hanley home is also considered the best combination of Texas modern architecture and Texas modern art.

O’Neil Ford Designed the Haggerty/Hanley Home Almost As If It Were a Village

Architect O’Neil Ford designed the Haggerty/Hanley home in a much larger scale, one that is common today but rare in Dallas at the time. Taking advantage of the beautiful acreage bordered by a creek, O’Neil Ford designed the home almost as if it were a village, much like the early homes of Texas. It is set down from the street, wrapping around the topography with walls of windows in the living areas closest to the creek.

Even when designing in this larger scale, O’Neil Ford drew from his memory of sketching earlier pioneer homes. O’Neil Ford also still relied on the same artisans like his brother Lynn Ford (who did the metal work and wood carvings on O’Neil Ford’s first modern home) for the architectural details on the Haggerty/Hanley home.

O’Neil Ford’s Haggerty/Hanley 1957 Home Directly Influences Architect Scott Lyons’ 1983 Designed Home and Architect Frank Welch’s 2004 Designed Home

O’Neill Ford

Scott Lyons

Frank Welch

The Haggerty/Hanley home reiterates detail and handcrafted artisanship while creating new volumes and uses of materials that influenced great architects like Scott Lyons and Frank Welch who worked with O’Neil Ford and whose later work reflected Ford’s influence.

These three Texas modern homes by O’Neil Ford, Scott Lyons, and Frank Welch were built over a span of 50 years and yet all remain architecturally current and influential. The beautiful estate area acreage and topography drove the design of each of these homes. All three are approximately 10,000 sf, built with steel frame construction, and designed as a series of attached structures with a significant secondary structure.

The O’Neil Ford Designed Haggerty/Hanley Living Room Has Influenced Architects for Over 50 Years

Architects locally and around the country come to see this midcentury modern Texas home and the living room O’Neil Ford designed. Architects admire and absorb the hand carved open wood screen, the continuous walls of soft Mexican brick, the walls of windows overlooking the lawn and sculpture garden as it descends to the creek, the pitched ceiling that gives balance to the spacious dimensions of the space, and the stick ceiling that acoustically softens the room and brings warmth. The floating wall gives separation without impeding the immense openness of the room.

Architect Scott Lyons Reinterprets and Further Modernizes Design Inspired by O’Neil Ford

In 1983 Scott Lyons was selected to design a home on possibly the most beautiful land in Preston Hollow. Like O’Neil Ford, he submitted the design of this modern home to the landscape. Scott Lyons set the house down from the street with the main living room closest to the deep ravine and spring fed creek. The home expands and cleans up the horizontal axis while still retaining the indigenous qualities of the materials and details. An open wood screen shields and announces the living room from the front door. A stick ceiling is not used as a finish, but an exposed ceiling joint on the pitched ceiling dramatizes the precision in which the house was built. The oversized soft Mexican brick complements the warmth of the cross-cut white oak. The wall of floor-to-ceiling windows wraps around the room, providing views of the creek and small lake beyond the garden. While the house almost disappears when viewed from the street, from inside it affords a spectacular view of the beautiful land on which it is set.

Frank Welch Identifies O’Neil Ford Designed Living Room as Room That Inspires Him

Approximately 50 years after O’Neil Ford designed the living room in the Haggerty/Hanley home, Frank Welch designed the living room for this home in the estate area of Bluffview. A wall of windows looking over the garden, a pitched ceiling with a tight pattern of parallel sticks, a floating wall, and cross-cut white oak finishes add depth and polished texture to the room.

Frank Welch does not mimic the past. Frank Welch designs homes that reflect ideas of the past that he advances with new technology, greater precision, proportions that are perfect, and a design that is fresh, exciting, and will influence generations in the future.

Great architects like O’Neil Ford, Scott Lyons, and Frank Welch have designed modern homes that are perfect for the site, beautifully crafted and articulated, and offering a new vision for future generations.

See more information and photographs on this Scott Lyons architect designed home offered for sale.

There is a shortage of modern homes in every neighborhood, but it is most pronounced in Highland Park. Elegant, eclectic style homes – ranging from the 1920s Mediterranean and Spanish Colonial to the homes built over the next eight decades in the English, Georgian, Italian and French style – captured the aesthetics of most Highland Park homeowners who desired to live in this beautiful township close to downtown Dallas. The rare person desiring a modern home found land more available in Bluffview, Preston Hollow or Oak Cliff. While some magnificent midcentury modern homes were built in Highland Park in the 1950s and 1960s, and an occasional modern home designed later, European style homes prevailed in Highland Park.

Now There is Great Demand for Modern Homes in Highland Park

Starting in the mid 1990s interest in modern homes became more pervasive. Recent graduates emerged from college with great passion for modern design but not yet the resources to buy a home. At the same time, a generation who had lived in traditional suburban homes their entire lives wanted something different, something better, something modern. The market dynamic changed. Only a few years ago a buyer was usually thinking, “I love this modern home but will I ever be able to find someone else who likes a modern home when it comes time to sell?” Now the marketplace tables have turned and perceptions have changed. Buyers are now often thinking, “Will I ever be able to find a modern home?”

How many years will it take for the supply of modern homes and the demand for modern homes to even out?

Many Years. Traditional homes have dominated building in Highland Park for more than 100 years. Homes with 3,000 square feet were replaced with homes with 6,000 square feet. Highland Park homes with 6,000 square feet were replaced with Highland Park homes with 12,000 square feet. Highland Park, over the decade, has become further entrenched with the same European-style homes, only larger. Reversing the trend is difficult. Even though there is much greater demand for modern homes, it is economically difficult to replace a 12,000 square foot traditional home with a new 5,000 square foot modern home.

How modern homes will become more prevalent in Highland Park

Builder homes, no matter what size, often become economically and aesthetically obsolete after 25 years. As a result, over the next 10 to 20 years, a huge number of traditional homes will become candidates to be replaced by modern homes. The more immediate change will come from homeowners who find a traditional Highland Park home for sale and transform the interior to a modern space.

Highland Park traditional home transformed to modern home perfect for art

This traditional home that was transformed into a modern space has made me realize there is a whole new reason to be enthusiastic about preservation and renovation. Up to now, my passion for homes has revolved around revitalizing neighborhoods, saving historic homes, or bringing attention to, or encouraging more architecturally significant homes. Now I better realize the value in existing homes without great historic value or a spectacular architecture pedigree. Here is an attractive well-proportioned home that lent itself to a modern renovation. An inspiring and important art collection compiled of mostly young artists from Europe and the U.S. has made the house architecturally excel. The space is sympathetic to art, supports and even catapults the art visually. The residence also recedes from the art. Hints of the home’s traditional architectural past bring a subtle contrast to the arts, and a familiarity and comfort to the space that allows the mind to fully explore the inspiration and power of each piece and of the art collectively.

Continuity of art collectors and cultural leaders

Every great city has art patrons, and civic leaders who encourage the arts, lead by example, and donate their time and money to create a rich cultural fabric for the city. Dallas is the best example of a city with generous philanthropists and, just as important, a city where the brightest and the best have taken a deep, personal interest in Dallas that goes well beyond the scope of their magnificent donations. There is a reason Dallas has the only opera hall in the world funded primarily with private funds. There is also a reason why in one generation a little fine art museum by the lagoon in Fair Park became the Dallas Museum of Art now at the center of the Arts District, surrounded by the I.M. Pei designed Meyerson Symphony Hall, the Renzo Piano designed Nasher Sculpture Center, the Joshua Prince-Ramus and Rem Koolhaas designed Wyly Theater and the Norman Foster designed opera hall, the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Arts Magnet) school and the Annette Strauss Artist Square. It was not enough to have just museums and performance spaces. Aesthetically, Dallas desired the finest.

The next generation of art collectors and civic contributors

At some point, the torch will be passed to another generation passionate about Dallas and aware of the importance of art in the life of the community. Derek and Christen Wilson are part of that generation. As we can see from just a glimpse of their art, they are passionate collectors with a good eye. Their home and collection recently also received an enthusiastic reception from art dealers from across the country when they came to Dallas for the Dallas Art Fair. The Wilson’s home and the Edward Durrell Stone designed home of John and Jennifer Eagle were the two Dallas homes chosen for this audience of art dealers. Patron members of the Dallas Museum of Art just had a chance to also view the Wilson’s home and collection. It is exciting to see Derek Wilson on the DMA Board of Trustees and Christen and Derek’s involvement in Two by Two, Silver Supper and so many other initiatives of the Dallas Museum of Art. They join the next generation of talented, committed civic leaders who continue to make Dallas the best city in the country.