Fuller House tour

A few days ago, I posted the latest news about the A. Quincy Jones home near me that barely escaped demolition. I was elated that it had been purchased and restored and was the site of a VIP party a couple of weeks ago.

At about the same time of that post, I heard from Charles Cooley, an instructor at the Art Institute of Fort Worth and the architectural consultant on the renovation. He had seen my blog posts and offered me a private tour of the home, which was the subject of a recent article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. (The article contains some before and after shots, as well as photos of other rooms and closets.)

Yesterday, after months of writing about the home, I finally got to see it for myself. I was joined by my daughter and SIL and several friends who also own homes from that era and share our passion for design.

At some point in the future, Cooley, as well as an interior designer who works with him and his student who took the cover photo for the print article will do a guest post and answer any questions you have about the home's history and their role in the renovation. Be sure to jot down anything you'd like to ask and email me or leave it in the comment section.

Cooley, an architect and an architectural photographer, will be sending me his photographs of the house, but today I'm sharing with you some shots my daughter and SIL made during yesterday's tour.

Links to my previous posts about this house:

A. Quincy Jones home faces demolition

Update on the A. Quincy Jones House in Fort Worth

Nick of Time

Fuller House is the site of VIP party

Exterior - Entrance to maid and nanny's and 5 garages to the right; main entrance to the left

Living room fireplace

Close-up of living room fireplace

Looking out of living room into back yark

Library

Grandson #2 checking out the original metal kitchen cabinets

Close-up of cabinet detail

Fountain

Close-up of fountain

Bathroom hardware

Bathroom hinges

Daughter and Grandson #1 with friends

Exterior - Back

The real estate listing for the property has some beautiful shots of the house, several taken by Cooley.

Fuller House is the site of VIP party

Remember the A. Quincy Jones house that was in danger of being demolished? Later I updated the story to let you know that it the price had been lowered, increasing the chances that it might be saved. Finally, I was able to report that the house had been purchased by an undisclosed buyer and was slated for renovation.

I'm extremely pleased to let you know that the 14-month renovation is complete, and the home was the site last weekend of a VIP party at the end of the Fort Worth Kitchen Tour, which included the Fuller House, now owned by Mike Jones.

I recently received a comment on one of my posts about the house from the architectural consultant on the project:

...I am glad to say that the house has not only been saved but has been brought back to life once again. I have learned a great deal about this home during the restoration. We are currently giving tours of the house so our community can see this great mid century modern before it goes back into private hands.

Here are a couple of photos of the renovated kitchen. I'm sure it will make all of you very happy to see the happy ending to this story.

Renovated kitchen of the Fuller House, now owned by Mike Jones
fwtx.com

Fuller House kitchen
fwtx.com

Cory Buckner: Inside the mind of a great man

At the end of World War II, returning soldiers were faced with housing shortages, and, across the country, affordable communities of affordable housing began to spring up. Among them was the Mutual Housing Association  in the hills above Santa Monica, California.

In 1946 four men pooled their resources and formed the Cooperative Housing Group, with the intention of building four homes around a shared pool and playground. The idea mushroomed and soon there were 500 members, each paying a $25 membership fee and making quarterly deposits of $500 in order to form a cooperative community. By 1947 the group had a board of directors and a credit union in place, and the MHA was formed. Eight hundred acres of land near Santa Monica was divided into 350 lots, and Whitney R. Smith and A. Quincy Jones, and an engineer, Edgardo Contini were selected to design the neighborhood, beginning with the architect's site office and a communal day care center.  Garrett Eckbo was chosen as the landscape architect for the neighborhood. Eventually, 150 houses were completed, and in 1956, the site office—which the architects worked out of for nearly a decade—was converted into a home. In 1961 a fire took out 45 of the homes, and numerous others were torn down or drastically altered.

Fast-forward to 1993, when Cory Buckner and her husband Nick Roberts purchase the former site office tor their home in the neighborhood now known as Crestwood Hills. At first she unsuccessfully tried to have the area designated as a historic preservation zone but decided to get individual houses declared historic monuments. And with the help of the late Julius Shulman and Elaine Sewell Jones, A. Quincy Jones's widow, she has done just that. Fifteen of the homes now have historic designation.

As a result of her work with Crestwood Hills, Buckner has written a monograph about A. Quincy Jones and has preserved a significant portion of California modernism. She says her hard work has been a small price to pay for "living inside the mind of a great man."

From dwell.com

All images from dwell.com

Buckner-Roberts home

Driveway

Kitchen

Living room

Living room

Patio/dining room

A. Quincy Jones retrospective

Yesterday I received an email from Cory Buckner, practicing architect in Los Angeles and author of the only monograph to date on the work of A. Quincy Jones. She wanted to know the status of the Andrew Fuller home in Fort Worth that I posted about here, here and here. The home, designed by Jones for Fuller and his wife, narrowly escaped demolition earlier this year. The home was purchased in August by a couple who reportedly planned to restore it. I told Ms. Buckner I would contact Historic Fort Worth, Inc. to see if there has been significant restoration yet, and if I learn anything new, I'll post an update.

Buckner let me know about a retrospective on the work of Jones that the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles is having from June 2, 2013 through September 8, 2013. Here are the particulars, from the Hammer Museum site:

The Hammer Museum's exhibition Building the California Dream: A. Quincy Jones and His Circle is the first comprehensive museum exhibition of A. Quincy Jones's work. The exhibition draws from the architect's archive, housed in UCLA's Special Collections, and showcases original drawings, models, furniture, and photographs, together with new commissioned photography of many extant buildings. The exhibition and accompanying publication explore Jones's impact on the built landscape of Southern California—underscoring his collaborative work with landscape architects, other architects, developers, and interior designers—and examine his influence on contemporary architecture and city planning. Through its content and design, the exhibition provides visitors with a unique to-scale, physical experience of some of Jones's most masterful forms and spaces.

In the spirit of A. Quincy Jones's collaborative approach, Brooke Hodge, the Hammer's director of exhibitions and publications, has assembled team to collaborate with her on the exhibition and publication. In addition, our team is supplemented by an advisory committee comprising leading scholars on mid-century architecture, design, and landscape architecture. This committee includes Thomas S. Hines, UCLA professor emeritus of architectural history and an expert on Richard Neutra and modern architecture in Los Angeles; Cory Buckner, a practicing architect and author of the only monograph to date on the work of A. Quincy Jones; Frederick Fisher, a practicing architect who is currently renovating several of Jones's most important buildings including Sunnylands (the Annenberg estate in Rancho Mirage, California) and whose architecture office is located in Jones & Emmons's own former office building in Los Angeles; Peter Loughrey, director of Los Angeles Modern Auctions and an acknowledged expert on mid-century interior furnishings; E. Marc Treib, University of California, Berkeley professor emeritus of architecture and coauthor of Garrett Eckbo: Modern Landscapes for Living; Mayer Rus, currently the Design and Culture Editor of the Los Angeles Times Magazine, former editor of Interior Design magazine, and a frequent contributor to Architectural Digest and Wallpaper*; and Elizabeth A. T. Smith, the curator of MOCA's important exhibitions on Rudolf Schindler and the Case Study House program, and currently curatorial director at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, Canada.

You can read more about Jones and about where to purchase Cory Buckner's boon on arcspace.

A. Quincy Jones
eichlernetwork.com

Cory Buckner
kcet.org

Nick of time

In January of this year, I posted about an A. Quincy Jones house not far from my own home in Fort Worth, Texas, that was in danger of being demolished. In a subsequent update in March, I was able to report that the house had a better chance of survival, since the asking price had been lowered.

I am happy to report that the 8400-square-foot home was purchased last Friday by a Fort Worth couple who appreciates the architecture and has the resources to restore the one-of-a-kind house, built for oilman Andrew Fuller and his wife almost 60 years ago.

The property on Charron Lane in west Fort Worth had been held by a Frost Bank trust in the name of Amon Carter III, the son of former Star-Telegram publisher Amon Carter Jr. and the grandson of Fort Worth legend Amon Carter Sr., according to an article by Star-Telegram reporter Chris Vaughn, who has followed the story from the beginning.

The house was threatened with demolition earlier in the year because no one would pay the original asking price of almost $1 million, since the house had fallen into such disrepair since Carter moved out four years ago. Vaughn's story in January generated interest in the fate of the property, and the price was dropped considerably in order to make a sale.

The Fuller House had been listed as one of the city's "most endangered" properties by Historic Fort Worth, a preservation group. The sale of the house will be celebrated by local mid-century enthusiasts, as well as those around the world.

Andrew and Geraldine Fuller, who had many friends in Hollywood, commissioned A. Quincy Jones to design the house, which was completed in 1953 on 17 acres in the Ridglea neighborhood. They hired William Haines, a former actor and famous mid-century interior designer, to oversee the decor. Every room is a different geometric shape--a circle, a trapezoid, a rhombus, to name a some.

T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings designed custom furniture to fit the gigantic rooms with 20-foot ceilings. The Fullers entertained lavishly in the home, with guests including Jimmy Stewart and Joan Crawford.

Thanks to all of you who have followed my posts about this beautiful piece of mid-century history. Many of you have commented here and elsewhere, helping to create a climate of support for the property, which made it less likely that the former owner would raze the house.

And, most of all, thanks to the buyers who saved this important landmark from the wrecking ball. I hope they will share photos of it with all of us when the restoration is complete.

Photo courtesy Historic Fort Worth

View of Fuller house from pool 

Update on the A. Quincy Jones house in Fort Worth

In a recent post, I wrote of the possible demolition of a spectacular A. Quincy Jones house in Fort Worth, Texas. The house was originally listed for $1.25 million by owner Amon Carter III, and he had turned down several offers, saying they were too far below his asking price. The prospective buyers, as well as
preservationists, had determined that repairs to the house would run from $500,000 to $1,000,000, as the owner has let the house sit unoccupied since 2008.

When I posted about the house, he had turned down an offer for $625,00 and seemed inclined to tear down the house and simply sell the land.

Today I was searching online for mid-century homes for sale in my area and ran across a new listing for the A. Quincy Jones home at 4167 Charron Lane. The asking price has been lowered to $699,000, making it far more likely that someone will buy the home and restore it to its original beauty. It's not saved from the wrecking ball yet...but with some luck and a willing buyer, perhaps it still has a chance.

Fuller House
historicfortworth.org

A. Quincy Jones home faces demolition

A recent article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram brought to my attention a Texas home designed by A. Quincy Jones that I never knew existed. Nestled in a hilly, wooded neighborhood not far from my own Fort Worth home, the Andrew Fuller House sits vacant, waiting for the wrecking ball.

The home is owned by the grandson of former Star-Telegram publisher Amon G. Carter, Sr., for whom a high school, a museum, a sports stadium and an exhibit hall have been named. Amon Carter III has been trying to sell the house for two years but has turned down several offers he felt were too far below his asking price. Initially, the house was listed for $1.25 million, but it has been lowered to less than $1 million. His most recent offer was $625,000. Carter says the appraised value of the land is more than that. The Tarrant Appraisal District values the land at $307,910.

The trust department of Frost bank has obtained a demolition permit on Carter's behalf. Carter moved out of the house in 2008, and it has sat empty and deteriorating since then. Preservationists and prospective buyers estimate that it would cost from $500,000 to $1,000,000 to restore the home.

Andrew and Geraldine Fuller commissioned Jones in 1950 to design the 8,400 square foot house, which was completed in 1953. Cory Buckner, a Los Angeles architect who wrote a biography of Jones in 2002, was saddened by the current condition of the house and says it is quite possibly the most beautiful luxury home Jones ever designed. Each immense room is a different shape...a diamond, a circle, a trapezoid, a parallelogram. The Fullers hired William Haines as their interior designer and T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings to create custom furniture for the home.

Historic Fort Worth, Inc., a local preservationist group, has tried to find a new owner, but so far no deal has been struck. The city council could designate the home a historic site, but it is unlikely to happen without homeowner support.

Nevertheless, a bank spokesperson says demolition isn't certain. She insists that as long as the house is still standing, there is a chance of saving it.

From star-telegram.com

The Fuller House sits at the end of a long, gated driveway.
This is the closest shot I could get from the street when I went to take a look yesterday.

Back view
historicfortworth.org

Front door
historicfortworth.org

Entrance hall
historicfortworth.org

Courtyard
historicfortworth.org

Eichler X-100 Experimental House

Joe Eichler's San Mateo Highlands subdivision, while nestled in beautiful rolling hills, was not convenient to reach by the two-lane Skyline Highway. Sales were not good, and Eichler Homes needed a way to attract potential buyers. Once people came out to get a tour of the "house of the future," they could be enticed to view the three adjacent Eichler models.

The 2,310 square foot steel X-100, called in the Eichler Homes brochure an "Exciting Exploration into Future Living," was designed by A. Quincy Jones, who wanted to continue his experimentation with steel homes. Joe Eichler and his son Ned saw it as a perfect opportunity to get all the businesses that were clamoring for Eichler Homes to use their products to put some of their pre-production prototypes on display.

The Wall Street Journal said, "The thousands of Californians who crowded into this 'home of tomorrow' this week gaped at such innovations as a revolving fireplace, one entire wall of glass, a plastic skylight like a bomber bubble, two indoor gardens, electrically operated sliding doors that replace all windows, and steel-frame construction to eliminate the need for load bearing walls." Local newspapers, as well as nationally distributed magazines like Sunset, Living for Young Homemakers and Arts & Architecture, ran articles about the X-100, which is said to have drawn over 150,000 visitors to the 700-house Highlands development.

The home also boasted such features as a MusiCall intercom radio, Waste-King's "super-hush pulverator" (garbage disposal), an automatic dishwasher and a NuTone five-in-one unit built directly into the countertop for blending, sharpening knives or making juice, as well as rooftop spotlights that eliminated the need for lamps, reversible kitchen cabinet doors (yellow on one side and white on the other) for instant decor changes and an 8'x4' Formica table in the kitchen that slid apart to reveal two burners used to keep food warm during meals.

Though the Eichlers wanted the structure primarily as a promotional tool, it turned out, somewhat as a happy accident, to be an experiment into the technological future of homebuilding.

From eichlernetwork.com and midcenturia.com

X-100 kitchen, with pull-apart table revealing a two burner range
eamesdesign.com

Interior color scheme of gray with cinnamon beams
eichlernetwork.com

X-100 exterior with pool
midcenturia.com

Rotating fireplace and interior gardens
midcenturia.com

Sales brochure
(from Sunset magazine, 1956)
about.com

Let's play an "I Spy" game and see what kind of thread we can get going with the new Blogger feature. I'll start the thread in the comment section below, and we'll see how many of the props we can recognize in the pictures above. The Eichlers got companies to furnish the X-100. How many can we identify?

A. Quincy Jones homes

Two homes designed by the noted architect A. Quincy Jones have sold in Southern California in the last 18 months, and one is still on the market. Jones is known for designing many of the homes built by developer Joseph Eichler.

The first home is the residence that Jones designed for actor Gary Cooper and completed in 1955. It is located in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Holmby Hills. According to the previous owner, who sold it for $15,500,000 in July of 2010, the neighborhood sits above Sunset Boulevard and is less known than Beverly Hills but more upscale. The 6000 square foot, 4 bedroom/5.5 bathroom house has a single-sloped roof rising to a wall of windows, mitered glass corners, ranch-like wings, a stone fireplace and a small pool with a miniature waterfall that is half inside the house and half out, flowing beneath a glass wall.

Gary Cooper home
eichlernetwork.com

Interior of the Gary Cooper home
eichlernetwork.com

Next is the Hamma residence, a 1731 square foot 3 bedroom/2.5 bath home in the Los Angeles area. It was built in 1951 and declared a Los Angeles Historio-Cultural Monument in 2005. The home sold in June of this year for $1,575,000.

Hamma residence
realtor.com

Interior of Hamma residence
realtor.com

The third home, originally listed at $29,000,000, makes the other two homes seem like a bargain, even at its marked down price of $24,900,000 ($2,929/sf). This 8500 square foot home sits on 3.6 acres in Bel Air and boasts ocean and city views, glass walls, a vineyard, a guest house and meandering paths leading to the gardens, pond and swimming pool. The house was built in 1965.

Bel Air home
realtor.com

Pool area of Bel Air home
realtor.com