His Love for Earthy Modern Homes Inspires Research Into Rare Ju-Nel Midcentury Gems

Mark Weeks became passionate about Ju-Nel homes, designed by Jack Wilson and Lyle Rowley in the 1950s and ’60s, when he purchased one 17 years ago. He was kind enough to share his story with us about not only falling in love with the architecture but also ensuring it endures.

By Mark Weeks

My wife and I acquired our Ju-Nel in late 2007. Admittedly, we did not know anything about the architects, but we loved the house. Shortly after, we read Christine Rogers’ 2006 article in D Magazine about her love affair with her Ju-Nel home, her ensuing documentation of about 35 Ju-Nel homes, starting the White Rock Home Tour and bringing the work of these architects back into the mainstream of knowledge about Dallas residential Midcentury Modern architecture.

For years, I asked anyone who would listen if they knew about these homes. I was in search of the story about the men, their lives, their inspirations, and their body of work. I spent weekends driving East Dallas streets, writing down addresses of homes I thought could be Ju-Nel. When my list hit 500, I knew I had to work harder to figure out how to authenticate them. After thousands of hours pulling microfiche records at the Dallas Buildings Department and looking through ledgers at the Dallas Central Library, I verified almost 150 homes as authentic. I am confident there are more that I have not yet authenticated.

Eager to share what I’d found, I bought the domain name Ju-Nel.com and set about learning how to build a website. Six months later, on March 6, 2024, Ju-Nel.com was launched. Currently, the site includes 99 homes, each with its page highlighting their unique features. I’ve held back almost 50, which I’m calling Re-Discovered. These are homes that have never been mentioned in the public domain as Ju-Nel but have been authenticated with building records and permits. As I gain access to these homes and can properly document them, they will be featured on Ju-Nel.com. The public interest has been overwhelming, and the site is generating more traffic than I could ever have imagined. The Wilson and Rowley families have been incredibly helpful and willing to share stories, documents, and original plans and elevations. Their contributions are an inspiration.

The architects Wilson and Rowley had a vision to bring modernism to Dallas, and to make the dream of owning a modern home more accessible. They built on sloped and irregular lots, rarely cutting down a tree. Our home was built around a 100-year-old American Elm, which still stands proudly in the inner courtyard. They used an abundance of natural materials, created ultra-private interior spaces with little exposure to street and sidewalk views, and utilized oversized eaves, which foster dramatic shadowing. Adobe brick was the masonry style of choice and, in some cases, was accented with wood screening. The best Ju-Nel homes still have their original exterior screening, and in at least one instance I know of, the homeowner had the wood screens meticulously re-created in steel.

Ju-Nel interior spaces are both unique and comfortable, with an abundance of natural materials. Open floor plans, exposed beams, and floor-to-ceiling windows work in unison to create bold but livable spaces. Wilson and Rowley considered the fireplace to be the heart of the home, and their use of masonry, tile, copper, brass, steel, and terrazzo tile created stunning centerpieces. Brick paver flooring was perhaps their most recognizable interior material, and it is as unique today as it was in the 1960s.

With the DFW metroplex recently being named the nation’s top spot for real estate investment, the danger of losing more Ju-Nel homes to demolition is a real concern. Midcentury classics are an endangered species, and only owners with a passion for maintaining and rehabilitating these honest and authentic homes stand in the way of more being lost to new construction.

I’ve been in more than a dozen Ju-Nel homes this year, three of which have been held by their current owners for more than 50 years. My goal is to share these spaces with Midcentury Modern architecture enthusiasts, to drive community awareness, and to foster their preservation. Sadly, we’ve already lost six Ju-Nel homes to demolition. Countless others have been remodeled beyond recognition. The preservation of not just the original features of Ju-Nel homes, but the homes themselves, is now a key focus.

To learn more about Ju-Nel homes and the history of these talented architects, be sure to visit Weeks’ site.