Westhope

Westhope, also known as the Richard Lloyd Jones House, is an architectural masterpiece by Frank Lloyd Wright, completed in 1931 in the Midtown neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The property stretches across a flat prairie and includes, in addition to the main house, a guest house, a garage, a koi pond, a swimming pool, and expansive lawns. One of only three structures Wright designed in Oklahoma and possibly the only textile-block house outside California, the building holds special historic status and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The facade stands out for its vertical orientation, with plain, pigmented concrete block columns alternating with tall bands of glass windows. These glass surfaces, which cover almost half of the exterior skin, give the house a light, almost transparent appearance that stands in stark contrast to Wright's earlier, horizontally oriented Prairie style.

Inside, Westhope is one of the largest residences Wright ever designed, with an open floor plan in which rooms intersect at right angles and flow into one another. The walls are made of simple textile blocks, while the ceilings are structured by a grid of patterned blocks. One highlight is the so-called Lantern Room, a living area with floor-to-ceiling windows that glows like a lantern at night. Despite the large overall footprint, the half-height partitions and the careful choice of materials create an intimate atmosphere. The house was controversial when it was completed; while some critics describe it as ugly or reminiscent of a prison cell, others see it as a significant step in Wright's evolution toward a purer, international aesthetic.

The history of the property is closely tied to the publisher Richard Lloyd Jones, a cousin of the architect, who commissioned the house to help his financially struggling relative. After Jones's death in 1963, the building changed hands several times and was renovated and lived in by various families. In the 2010s, the house fell into disrepair and was placed on Oklahoma's list of endangered historic sites. An investor acquired it in 2021 and carried out extensive restoration work, including waterproofing the blocks and removing later additions, and then began renting it out for private events and conferences. Today, Westhope is once again in well-kept condition and is regarded as an important cultural venue in Tulsa that keeps Wright's organic architecture alive.