Houston’s Only Frank Lloyd Wright Home Just Hit the Market For $2.85M
After narrowly escaping demolition in the 1990s, Frank Lloyd Wright's Thaxton House has been respectfully restored and updated—and it just returned to the market for $2,850,000. The house is one of only three Wright-designed homes in Texas, and it's the sole Wright residence in Houston.
Located in Bunker Hill, the Thaxton House features all the hallmarks of Usonian design. It's defined by a simple, natural material palette and offers ample opportunities for indoor/outdoor living.
Located on 1.2 acres of wooded land in Houston’s upscale Bunker Hill area, the historic 1955 Usonian-style house was created for insurance executive William L. Thaxton Jr. Built around a parallelogram unit system that eschews right angles, the original house measures 1,800 square feet—a modest size, even when compared to other Usonian designs.
The Thaxton House was designed around a 120/60 parallelogram system that yields a diamond shape. This geometric form defines not only the floor plan, but also the furnishings and cabinetry.
After Thaxton sold the home in the late 1960s, the property fell prey to a series of unsympathetic changes. Hoping to make the home more conventional, subsequent owners tacked pineapple-shaped finials to the corners of the roof, tore out custom Wright-designed furnishings, painted over the interior redwood walls in a variety of colors, and even installed ionic columns at the entrance. The alterations significantly reduced the midcentury home’s value and led to fears of a potential teardown when it was listed on the market in the early 1990s.
Triangle-shaped inset lights illuminate the entrance area. Current owner Alan Gaw removed the non-original ionic columns at the entryway when he purchased the house.
The vaulted ceiling gives the living room a sense of drama and spaciousness. The built-in redwood couch runs the length of the room.
8" x 8" windows top the concrete block walls. Polished red concrete floors feature throughout the home.
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Fortunately for Wright preservationists, current owner Alan Gaw purchased the concrete block home and spent millions of dollars renovating it. Working together with architect Bob Inaba of Houston-based Kirksey-Meyers Architects, he not only restored the home to the specifications of Wright’s architectural plans, but also added a large U-shaped extension that more than quadruples the living space and improves the livability of property.
A tall, U-shaped extension wraps around the original home, creating a spacious courtyard with a pool at the center.
The parallelogram-shaped pool is located right outside the Thaxton House master bedroom.
After holding the home for two decades, the owner is now looking for a new buyer for the 8,072-square-foot house. The six-bedroom, six-and-a-half bath home has been on and off the market since 2010, and it has been recently relisted for a reduced price.
The extension improves the livability of the Thaxton House, which had very small parallelogram-shaped bedrooms and bathrooms.
Glazed doors and continuous flooring tie the indoor and outdoor living areas together.
The built-in dining room table and stools were designed with 60- and 120-degree angles.
A peek inside the skylit kitchen with clerestory windows.
12020 Tall Oaks St., Houston, TX is now being listed by JP and Associates, REALTORS for $2,850,000. See the full listing here.
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