After narrowly escaping demolition in the 1990s, Frank Lloyd Wright's Thaxton House has been respectfully restored and updated—and it just returned to the market for $2,850,000. The house is one of only three Wright-designed homes in Texas, and it's the sole Wright residence in Houston.

Located on 1.2 acres of wooded land in Houston’s upscale Bunker Hill area, the historic 1955 Usonian-style house was created for insurance executive William L. Thaxton Jr. Built around a parallelogram unit system that eschews right angles, the original house measures 1,800 square feet—a modest size, even when compared to other Usonian designs.

After Thaxton sold the home in the late 1960s, the property fell prey to a series of unsympathetic changes. Hoping to make the home more conventional, subsequent owners tacked pineapple-shaped finials to the corners of the roof, tore out custom Wright-designed furnishings, painted over the interior redwood walls in a variety of colors, and even installed ionic columns at the entrance. The alterations significantly reduced the midcentury home’s value and led to fears of a potential teardown when it was listed on the market in the early 1990s.

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Fortunately for Wright preservationists, current owner Alan Gaw purchased the concrete block home and spent millions of dollars renovating it. Working together with architect Bob Inaba of Houston-based Kirksey-Meyers Architects, he not only restored the home to the specifications of Wright’s architectural plans, but also added a large U-shaped extension that more than quadruples the living space and improves the livability of property.

After holding the home for two decades, the owner is now looking for a new buyer for the 8,072-square-foot house. The six-bedroom, six-and-a-half bath home has been on and off the market since 2010, and it has been recently relisted for a reduced price.

12020 Tall Oaks St., Houston, TX is now being listed by JP and Associates, REALTORS for $2,850,000. See the full listing here.

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