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Josephine Herbert and Bruno Kurt Graf House

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1957, Edward Durell Stone; 2008 renovated, Buchanan Architects. 5243 Park Ln.

Disarmingly simple on the exterior, the interior of the Graf house is perhaps the most unusual in Dallas. Stone’s son and biographer, Hicks Stone, recorded that his father had been thinking of a house prototype with a flat roof and rooms around an interior atrium like those he had seen on travels to Pompeii. At the entrance auto court, the house has a solid-walled first floor with a central glazed entrance. Between the projecting second story and roof, Stone installed his signature perforated masonry grille, concealing the windows. Inside, the first story extends from front to rear as an open space, with areas defined by decorative screens designed by T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings (who also furnished the house). The dining table stands on a round, white marble platform that appears to float in a rectangular pool. Screens set off the living area in the middle of the space and an oval swimming pool (since filled-in) terminated the long space. Guest bedrooms and service areas flank the central space, with views to enclosed side gardens. A spiral staircase leads to the second floor, containing the master suite and a terrace.

The house was renovated in 2008 by Dallas architect Russell Buchanan for new owners John and Jennifer Eagle. Practical updates for the kitchen and bedroom areas did not alter the interior progression of the space, and the dining platform and pool remain.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Gerald Moorhead et al.
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Citation

Gerald Moorhead et al., "Josephine Herbert and Bruno Kurt Graf House", [Dallas, Texas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/TX-02-DS75.

Print Source

Buildings of Texas

Buildings of Texas: East, North Central, Panhandle and South Plains, and West, Gerald Moorhead and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2019, 172-173.

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