This house, designed in 1962 by the brilliant MIT-trained architect Robert Johnson Perry, famous for several landmark mid-century modern houses in Texas, is located on Shenandoah Avenue in Highland Park and is the personal home of Emily Summers. Although the architecture is distinctly American on the surface, passing through the lightly screened entry reveals Perry’s famous attachment to all things Asian: the house stands as a sort of Buddhist temple, entirely encircling a serene interior court.
The soft courtyard light and earthy materials such as adobe brick, pale oak, and cedar fill each room of the house with a soft glow, which features Summers’s favorite pieces, collected over decades from around the globe. Described by Summers as an interplay “between memory and the moment,” the house proudly displays the evolution of her most personal tastes in design, from her first significant purchase in the 60s (a pair of art-deco club chairs) to a contemporary glass and iron eleven-leg table by Garouste & Bonetti.
