Philip Johnson’s Only Dallas Design!

Philip Johnson’s Only Dallas Design!

Philip Johnson's Only Dallas Design!

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Architect Philip Johnson, widely known for his Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut and other structures he designed for the property, which he referred to as his "fifty-year diary," was also well known for his post modern work of the 1980s. When asked to compare the difference between architecture and landscape, Johnson declared he saw them as one art. With the modern concept of glass-walled structures to create a disappearing threshold between house and landscape, it was important that the view beyond was equal to the house itself. That viewpoint can be seen in the only home he designed that was built in Dallas, Texas.

In 1963, Dallas construction magnate Henry C. Beck and his then-wife, Patty, commissioned Johnson to design this 11,387-square-foot estate home on their 6.45 acres of land in the prestigious Preston Hollow neighborhood. After the Becks divorced in early 2000, she sold the estate to Naomi Aberly and Larry Lebowitz. By then it needed a complete overhaul including the overgrown landscaping. From 2002 through 2008, Aberly and Leibowitz undertook a massive renovation including a re-landscaping of the entire acreage. Mark Lamster of the Dallas Morning News, who is also writing a book about Philip Johnson, had it right when he said of the renovation companies, "Reed Hilderbrand and Bodron and Fruit, have done Johnson better than Johnson could have done Johnson."

Today, the five-bedroom, 11-bath house features a grand entry/gallery with dramatic double staircases to a surrounding open hall. Other rooms consist of formal living and dining, den, library, two studies, state-of-the-art kitchen and butler’s pantry, an informal dining room, a family room and adjacent laundry room, house manager’s office or quarters, guest suite and private stairway leading to the upper level. Outside is a separate media house containing a step-down media room with full bath and kitchen that is just steps away from the main house. The 1,521-square-foot cabana by the pool has two bathrooms, a full kitchen and multiple sliding glass doors that open to a covered terrace and tennis court. President Obama has twice been a guest of Aberly and Leibowitz at the home. For more information.

Dallas estate designed by renowned architect Philip Johnson in sought after Preston Hollow, is now on the market priced at $27.5 million.

Source: www.mathews-nichols.com