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Dallas Architectural Styles

Douglas Newby captures intertwining relationships of architects and architectural styles as they relate to the neighborhoods of Dallas.



There has not been an attempt in this section to reference every style or document every architectural event with a parallel expression in another city. It is left to you to recognize and explore the many similarities in your past or present environment. It is my feeling that if you are in the United States you will look upon these Dallas homes with fondness and sentiment as they recall influences from your surroundings. If you are from outside the United States you can be confident the homes shown here reflect the style and approach and success of the architecture found across North America. See featured architecturally significant and modern homes offered for sale.


The renovation of this internationally important mid century modern residence, including reclaiming the pool and floating dining room island, was completed in 2007.


This Dallas modern home designed by architect, Max Levy is an example of Dallas Modern real estate offered for sale by Douglas Newby.



Before specialization, the best architects received the best commissions whether they were residential or commercial. As a result, some of the finest homes in Dallas were built in the first part of the twentieth century by architects known for their monumental commercial work. Click here to continue introduction.


Dallas architects, in the first half of the twentieth century, were influenced by a variety styles found across the country. Dallas architects were also influenced by European travels and studies and by prominent architects who came to Dallas from the East Coast, West Coast, and Midwest to design important homes for their Dallas clients.


As Dallas continued its love affair with homes rooted in the European tradition, eclectic architecture became more varied and the results more diverse. The styles remained the same, the homes became bigger. 1910 Georgian homes were replaced by 1970 Georgian homes. 1920 Tudor homes were replaced by 1980 Tudor homes. 1930s Mediterranean homes were replaced 1990s Mediterranean homes. The proportions were forced to change. With a height limit of 39 feet, but an unrestricted width and length of a home, these classic styles often became stretched beyond any sense of authenticity. The details however, remained faithful replicas of their European origins.







David Williams best described the melding of modernism with the 1800s inspiration of the early pioneers that gives us Texas Modernism. He states in the 1931 April issue of Southwest Review, "There is not in any one of these homes built in the Southwest before 1850 an instance of imitation of foreign styles, of show, of striving for effect, of any use of unnatural, unnecessary ornament, or of material not structural and fit for its purpose. Their style is modern for it satisfies all the requirements of modern design and construction." Click here to continue introduction.


Pioneer Texas homes are the inspiration for Texas Modern homes. Acknowledging the environment, employing artisans, and rejecting eclectic ornamentation resulted in this indigenous architecture.


The majority of the Texas award-winning architects have all been influenced by the style originated by David Williams and O'Neil Ford who combined the indigenous quality of pioneer homes with the modern tenants of Europe. This regional modernism has continued uninterrupted for 75 years by Frank Welch, James Pratt, Max Levy, David Lake, Ted Flato, Ron Wommack, Cliff Welch, Gary Cunningham, and many others.







The city was new with plenty of room for people and plenty of room for ideas. This is reflected in the modern architecture of Dallas. In the first half of the century, Dallas was being built, the architectural foundation laid, a sense of permanence desired. Click here to continue introduction.


As Art Deco swept the country in 1936, the Centennial Exhibition buildings at Fair Park were designed in this style. Several Art Moderne or Art Deco residences were designed at the same time.


The architectural schools led by Harwell Hamilton Harris at the University of Texas taught Modernism. International modernists were recruited to design residences. The result was the most robust proliferation of contemporary architecture in the country.


Midcentury Modern Homes on Facebook


Articles on Dallas Architecture and Dallas Architects


Modern: A Perspective on the Modern Movement in Dallas
by Stephen Fox
Delivered at the Dallas Theater Center for Preservation Dallas' Fall Architecture Tour and Symposium, 11 October 2003
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Seventy-Five Years of Texas Modernism in Dallas by Douglas Newby
Click here for a special issue on Dallas architecture in Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas, Fall, 1997, pp50-55.

Dallas, America's Twentieth Century City by Douglas Newby
Dallas more than any other city in the country is defined architecturally by its twentieth century architecture. Virtually all of the existing homes in Dallas were built between 1900 and 2000. American architecture has strong regional influences and Dallas is no exception. Besides the intense, romantic, and vast influence of Texas on Dallas the city has appealed to the East Coast, the West Coast, Chicago and the southern states to fill it's architectural canvas of Eclectic, Texas Modern and Modern homes.
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Dallas Architecture: Elements of Style by Douglas Newby.
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Dallas Eclectic Style by Douglas Newby Click here

Dallas Modern Style by Douglas Newby Click here

Texas Modern Style by Douglas Newby Click here

Click here to learn more about architectural styles on the REALTOR.com Website.







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