The house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for insurance company exec William Thaxton is back on the market again as of Friday, now listed at just $2.795 million. Wright designed the triangle-and-diamond-themed home with no air-conditioning system in 1954, though Thaxton and the builder eventually snuck some ducts into the red concrete floor; the mid-century space later got a classically-inspired makeover and circled the market drain toward lot-value sale and presumed teardown. But an early 1990’s buyer saved the property from demolition and removed the pineapple-shaped finials — while adding a high-ceilinged, right-angled extension which enclosed the almost-a-parallelogram pool in more of a central courtyard. (That extension contains a living room, lofted entertainment space, bedrooms, and a kitchen, meaning the occupant doesn’t have to spend time in the angular Wright portion of the building if they don’t want to. )
The new listing (the latest in an on-again-off-again series of market stints that started in 2010 at $3.5 million) includes a few new angles on the property, which (as seen from above) sits alongside a channelized ditch draining directly south from Memorial City Mall to Buffalo Bayou. The lights around the front door and entryway are equilateral triangles:
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The original kitchen sports some triangular skylights as well, with some walls at matching angles:
The high-ceilinged expansion is seen here across the pool:
The second kitchen:
A half-story lofted area is accessible by a narrow staircase:
The house now contains 6 or 7 bedrooms all together, depending on how you count ’em. Here’s the master suite:
The complex includes a “guest suite” with kitchenette:Â
- 12020 Tall Oaks St. [HAR]
- Previously on Swamplot: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Only Houston House and Its Live-In Visitor Center Add-On Are Yours for $3.2 Million; Houston’s Only Frank Lloyd Wright House Up for Grabs Again
Photos: HAR
Very cool place. A lot of Swampies complain when a house is razed that should have been saved. Well, here is an example of one that was saved and updated. Let’s see what happens.