More Dallas demolition

FD Luxe recently ran an article entitled "Paradise lost: The most exciting home in Dallas is gone. A preservationist and a photographer have questions." It was about the demolition of the extraordinary Kelley House, designed in 1956 by Jim Wiley of the Oglesby Group Architects and built by Dorothea and Bartram Kelley.

According to the article, at the time the house was built, it "reflected Bartram’s interest in new and innovative materials of the time; he was a pioneer in helicopter design and chief engineer for Bell Helicopter. Dorothea was an accomplished violist and for 54 years the artistic director of the Dallas Chamber Music Society."

Telephone poles painted white were the support columns, and builder-grade sliding doors stacked two deep formed the 16-foot glass walls that provided a beautiful view of a creek and natural spring-fed pond. The living room could hold more than 100 guests for performances of some of the most accomplished musicians in the world.

Dorothea died in 2009 at the age of 103, and the house fell into disrepair. In spite of receiving a Texas Society of Architects award in 1963 and a 25 Year Award from the Dallas Chapter of the AIA in 1998, the house was demolished after being on the market for two years. The photographs in the article were taken just months before the house was destroyed.

To read the opinions of preservationist Mark Doty about the lack of value placed on mid-century architecture in Dallas and photographer Nan Coulter's ideas about how the house could have been saved, read the full article in FD Luxe.

From fdluxe.com