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PaperCity April 2025 Dallas

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The dining room's antique table, breakfront, and Baker chairs belonged to Shelby Wagner's grandmother. Antique rug inherited from his mother. Walls covered in Gracie Tobacco Leaf print. Phillip Jeffries Platinum Leaf paper on ceiling. Stephen Antonson plaster chandelier from Wells Abbott. On a Sunday in 2018, interior designer Shelby Wagner got a call from a friend and client. She had her eye on a newly listed house in University Park's historic Volk Estates and was eager for a second opinion. Would Wagner and his husband, Niven Morgan, the noted creator of candles and home scents, join her for a walkthrough and share their insights? To their delight, the house was one the couple had admired for years while strolling the nearby neighborhood with their dog, a Catahoula named Harlow. The house's front entry, concealed behind a pair of metal gates with a modern trellis motif, beckoned further inquiry. "That one element gave it so much intrigue and interest," Wagner says. He was thrilled to finally glimpse inside. 'We had no idea we were going to fall in love with the interiors at first sight." When his client ultimately changed her mind about the house, Wagner and Morgan purchased it themselves. The Texas Modern-style residence was designed in 1993 by O'Neil Ford protégé Duane Landry, who began his career in 1959 at O'Neil Ford & Associates in San Antonio. Ford is considered the originator of the Texas Modern architecture style and likely inspired Landry's concept for the Volk Estates residence. Landry a n d h i s w i f e , architect Jane Landry, continued their collaboration with Ford and his firm for decades, even after establishing their own practice. The association with O'Neil Ford holds special significance for Wagner, who grew up in Amarillo admiring the great architect's many contributions to the region, including the building where Wagner's father worked. The Volk Estates house is just a few decades old, but it has a distinguished legacy. Late philanthropist Beatrice Haggerty, the widow of Texas Instruments co-founder Patrick Haggerty, was 80 years old when she commissioned Landry to design her dream house — a decision no doubt influenced by her longstanding connection with O'Neil Ford, who died in 1982. As patrons of education and science, the Haggertys had enlisted Ford to create notable civic projects, including buildings for St. Mark's School of Texas and University of Dallas, along with a technologically advanced design for Texas Instruments' Semiconductor Building. In 1958, Ford devised the Haggertys' Preston Hollow house, considered one of the architect's most important residential designs. Duane Landry's concept for Bea Haggerty's house in Volk Estates may not carry the same name recognition as O'Neil Ford, but its design stands as a tour de force. Built as a 96

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