Description:

Frank Lloyd Wright
n.p., ca. 1956
Frank Lloyd Wright Sketch For John A. Gillin House, Annotated in Wright's Hand
Annotated architectural drawing

An original architectural plan for the John A. Gillin House, the only residential commission Wright completed in Dallas, Texas. Titled "House for Mr. John A. Gillan…Supl. Sheet…Fountain." [n.p., n.d. but ca. mid-1950s]. The plan is printed on cream paper, and Wright has added extensive free-hand drawings in graphite pencil, orange colored pencil, and purple colored pencil throughout. Expected wear commensurate with age and use, else very good. Unrolled measures 36.5" x 23". Expected wear including toning and yellowing. Isolated fingerprint smudges and stains. Isolated edge wear including minor loss to the upper right corner, as well as a pen identification in a modern hand at lower right corner, else very good. Rolled.

Provenance: From the collection of architect William Kelly Oliver, Frank Lloyd Wright's apprentice, and a member of the Taliesin Associated Architects, who supervised construction of the John A. Gillin House and the Kalita Humphreys Theater, both in Dallas, Texas.

The plan shows several views of the courtyard fountain, from sky view, elevation, and cross-section. Wright's free-form drawing is labeled "Fountain" and features layers of circles delineating the waterfall and striated stone wall. Other pencil drawings, some made using a compass, are found above and to the right, with dimensions penciled-in.

Frank Lloyd Wright began preparations for the John A. Gillin House in 1950. There is some discrepancy over when it was finished: W. S. Storrer states that it was completed in 1955; while others maintain that the house was completed in 1958. Still other sources claim that the house was only "virtually finished" at the time of Wright's death at age 91 in April 1959.

Regardless of when it was finished, the John A. Gillin House was one of the last Wright architectural commissions of his career, as well as one of his most memorable designs. The John A. Gillin House (Storrer # S. 338) is located at 9400 Rockbrook Drive in the desirable Preston Hollows neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. Wright's client, John A. Gillin, was a young and talented geophysicist who founded the National Geophysical Company at age 27. Gillin reportedly spent about $100,000 (over $1 million in 2025 money) on Wright's project situated at the center of a 7-acre property overlooking a country creek.

The house, which extends outward in three radiating wings, has been dubbed the "train house" because of its "long and low" silhouette, characteristic of Wright's Usonian style (1937-1959). The style is Usonian in its use of natural materials, its flat and cantilevered roofs, its single-story construction, and its many windows providing natural light -- in fact, the John A. Gillin House should perhaps be considered Wright's most extreme Usonian design.

The rigid geometric form of the house, rather than function, dictates its design. Rooms are truncated at 60 and 120 angles, and a dizzying array of geometric patterns -- parallelograms, triangles, hexagons, circles -- appear throughout the house, in the roof, elevation, and room by room details.

The John A. Gillin House was to be Wright's only residential project in Dallas, Texas; the other two private homes that he designed in Texas, the William L. Thaxton House and the Sterling Kinney Residence, were located in Bunker Hill Village and Amarillo, Texas, respectively. The only other Wright design in Dallas besides the John A. Gillin House is that of the Kalita Humphreys Theatre, constructed around the same time.

Frank Lloyd Wright created over 1,000 architectural plans over his 70-year-long career, of which more than half were constructed. Wright's pioneering design approach incorporated function, aesthetics, and the environment, and fundamentally changed late 19th and early 20th century architecture. In addition to architectural design, Wright wrote many books, served as a mentor, and also designed furniture and decorative arts.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 36.5" x 23"
  • Medium: Annotated architectural drawing

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