A recent social media post on a Streamline Moderne home caught my attention. There was quite a bit of debate over it, so I thought I’d reach out to some of our expert voices and set the record straight on this unusual architectural niche.
Streamline moderne is often called Art Moderne, Art Deco, or International Style, but it has its own unique place in architecture. There are respected professional architects in California who will throw down over these delineations, so let’s just go with it.
What is Streamline Moderne?
The design of the luxury ocean liner S.S. Normandie, launched in 1932, kicked the look into high gear. Inspiration, in general, came from aerodynamic designs in industrial applications. The style was extremely popular in the 1930s and was used to design everything from buses and trains to telephones and radios. Think of it as a stripped-down version of Art Deco. Of course, it was not long before residential architects were inspired.
I can think of few people better able to break down what Streamline Moderne is than Preservation Park Cities Board member and architect Larry Good. Good, you may remember, was a founding principal and chairman with leading architectural firm Good Fulton and Farrell and the author of A House for Texas about the historic Elbert Williams House built in 1933 and designed by Dallas architect David R. Williams.
“A true Streamline Moderne is characterized by curved elements, corner steel casement windows, flat roofs, porthole windows, glass brick, and nautical overtones, like the pipe railings which you see on second-floor balconies,” Good said.
A Quirky Architectural Style Comes to Texas
This architectural style was introduced to Dallas during the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition when architects Dewitt & Washburn designed The Contemporary House. There were four homes built in total for the Exposition, and The Contemporary House was demolished in 1947. This model home was never moved.
A more traditional home known as the Southern Pine House was moved to 3003 Kinmore Street. The only remaining structure is The Portland Cement home by Harold (Bub)i Jesson and, restored by architect Norman Alston.
The Masonite House was designed by Architect Ralph Cameron from San Antonio. He won a Masonite Corporation competition to design it. This is the house that sources report was moved after the Greater Texas & Pan American Exposition to 6901 Gaston. It is NOT a Streamline Moderne. The Streamline Moderne, which most of us in East Dallas drive by regularly, sits a block away at 6851 Gaston and was designed by Reynolds Fisher. Many of you will remember this belonged to designer Todd Oldham for several years. There has been confusion about this one, so chime in if you have some proof or evidence to the contrary! So, as Larry Good has confirmed in the comments, no Streamline Moderne was ever moved from the Fair Park grounds, just the Masonite house.
Only a block away from the Gaston house is a gorgeous 1936 Streamline Moderne residence designed by Luther Sadler at 6843 Lorna Ln. Preservation Architect Nancy McCoy wrote a column for the Dallas AIA Springboard publication and noted that this house was built by the Mayflower Investment Company and is one of 14 modern-style houses in the area. This one, however, is the only Streamline Moderne and is painted brick.
Heading over to 4637 Mockingbird Ln, we find a Streamline Moderne designed by John Astin Perkins for Columbus Marion Joiner. With that moniker, it’s no wonder everyone called him by his nickname ‘Dad.’ Joiner drilled the discovery well of the East Texas Oil Field, the source of H.L. Hunt’s fortune. But that’s another story!
One of the most beautifully preserved Streamline Modernes, designed by Fisher and Reynolds, is on Beverly Drive. It recently underwent such an incredible update it was featured in Architectural Digest. The charming part of this home’s story is the owner’s daughter, Avery Cox updated it. William Curtis, of Curtis & Windham Architects in Houston, was the architect. This is a perfect example of taking a beautiful historic home and making it work for our lifestyles today.
The two remaining examples of Streamline Moderne are found in Cochran Heights at 5102 Pershing St. and in East Kessler at 1302 Cedar Hill Ave. Fortunately, CedarHill has been painted the correct color now, After a few years of being washed in a drab beige with turquoise accents, it’s white again.
So why are there only six of these unique homes left in our city? We recently lost one in at 4593 Belfort, but that does not make up for the fact there are so few.
“I think the reason most did not survive is; frankly, they were a quirky style and not to everybody’s taste,” Good said. “It was not that they could not be renovated. In fact, they were probably easier to renovate; Dallas was just very traditional. There are still a lot in California.”
In fact, if you are headed to Palo Alto, you can snap up a vintage Streamline Moderne at 450 N.California Ave or only $6.38 million. See? Saving a historic home can pay off!
