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Czech crystal chandeliers, draperies, carpets, spiral stair, and 100 mounted deer and elk heads. Glennlee was 34 years old when it was demolished. Lessons from the Past Summarizing loss is difficult; all constructed things eventually disappear. But to invest the resources, intelligence, artistry, and craft required to build a great work of architecture, only to intentionally destroy it a few decades later, seems perverse. The fate of these grand houses poses a cautionary warning to those who would build big. Yet while they stood, these showplaces broadcast their owners' determination to be seen as building a Houston that was grander, more impressive, and more beautiful than what preceded it. Stephen Fox is an architectural historian, a Fellow of the Anchorage Foundation of Texas, and a lecturer at the Rice University School of Architecture and the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture at the University of Houston. His most recent book, The Architecture of Birdsall P. Briscoe (Texas A&M University P r e s s ) , r e c e i v e d a Preservation Houston 2025 Good Brick Award. Farb in 1972. Farb announced that he would demolish the house immediately, although it was not until 1977 that its replacement, the densely packed 275-unit Brentwood Condominiums, was completed. A public auction was held in July 1972 to dispose of the architectural millwork, cabinetry, mantels, Clockwise: Detail of window architecture in the Proctor-Hogg- McDermott-Stude House, 2950 Lazy Lane, 1928 – 2005. J. S. Cullinan House, 2 Remington Lane, 1918 – 1973. Photo taken 1972. J. S. Cullinan House, 2 Remington Lane, 1918 – 1973. Photo taken 1972. Proctor-Hogg-McDermott- Stude House, 2950 Lazy Lane, 1928 – 2005. FROM THE ARCHITECTURE OF BIRDSALL P. BRISCOE BY STEPHEN FOX (TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY PRESS, © 2023). PHOTO BY PAUL HESTER. FROM THE ARCHITECTURE OF BIRDSALL P. BRISCOE BY STEPHEN FOX (TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY PRESS, © 2023). PHOTO BY PAUL HESTER. RICK GARDNER RICK GARDNER