My love affair with Ju-Nel started one hot August day in 2000. We moved into our new home and were greeted in the driveway by our new neighbors Connie and Vel Hawes. Vel, a lauded architect, said, “You don’t know what an architectural gem you now own. It was designed by Ju-Nel Homes, led by two architects no one really knows about.”

That day, Vel planted a seed with me that took six years to sprout into a D Home magazine feature telling the untold Ju-Nel story, and to launch White Rock Home Tour focused then on showing Ju-Nels that dot the northeast White Rock Lake landscape.

My story in D Home was based on multiple interviews with Ju-Nel staff and contractors, Ju-Nel co-founder Lyle Rowley himself, and family members of co-founder Jack Wilson. In my meetings and emails, these wonderful sources shared facts, stories, and every last piece of ephemera, office files, and photos—or so I thought. 

I had thought the Ju-Nel story had been as told as it ever could be until I met Mark Weeks. An architecture and preservation enthusiast with a budding curiosity about Ju-Nel, Mark spent countless hours wading through deeds, permits, and other official documentation filed by the architecture firm, Lyle, and Jack to uncover nearly 100 more Ju-Nel homes than the 35 or so homes my sources had been able to confirm to me in 2006. 

Here I would like to highlight Mark’s extreme dedication to the cause. Over the course of 17 years, he unearthed 15 years’ worth of building department ledgers at Dallas’ Central Library and ON MICROFICHE at the Buildings Department.

Some of you reading this won’t even know what microfiche is (lucky.) But if you know, you know what an act of archival love Mark undertook to tell a much deeper, richer story than I did. Mark’s research crusade reveals the legacy and true reach of Dallas’ thought-leading MCM residential architecture firm Ju-Nel, or, what I like to think of as Dallas’ answer to California’s Eichler.

Mark’s research is a gift to those who care about mid-century design, architectural and sociological history, and how one small seed can, with time, lead to greater things. Like full-time art at Hexter Elementary (paid for by proceeds from that first home tour), and an appreciation for expertly, beautifully designed homes with soul. 

Christine Rogers

First Ju-Nel storyteller

Founder of White Rock Home Tour

Proud Ju-Nel homeowner

COMMUNITY  ·  AWARENESS  ·  PRESERVATION

This is the Why, the driving force for the project that has become Ju-Nel.com

Community for owners and enthusiasts alike

Awareness and education for all

Preservation of the spectacular homes by Rowley and Wilson

If you're reading this, you're likely already a Ju-Nel enthusiast or one who is curious to learn more about the architects Lyle Rowley and Jack Wilson.  I'm glad you're here.  No matter which you are, my goal is to help you along the way of your Ju-Nel journey.  Rowley and Wilson's expansion of Mid-Century Modern themes taking root in California combined with the use of natural materials and respect for the natural world helped lay the foundation for a movement of affordable Modernism in Dallas.

Without the efforts of Christine Rogers to bring Ju-Nel back into the mainstream of Dallas architecture discussions, I would likely not have embarked on this fervent journey to identify and document all the works by Ju-Nel, Rowley and Wilson.  Her work has been an inspiration.

Special thanks to my wife Taylor for supporting me in the endeavor to bring this project to life - my almost two decades long dream of Ju-Nel.com would not have happened without her; our daughters Sterling and Vaughn for always being interested in my quest for Ju-Nel history, and for their learned ability to spot a Ju-Nel on many of our daily drives around East Dallas; my mom Darcy Randall for her editing and proofing prowess and guidance on all things architectural; my brother Corris Randall for his long distance coding help; my nephew and architect Caleb Randall for his work to re-create the Ju-Nel logo from a postage stamp sized thumbnail; and my close friend and neighbor Brad Hawkins for his sage advice and work on communications.

Hi, I'm Mark Weeks, founder, author and publisher of Ju-Nel.com.  I have a family history of architecture and architectural preservation and I've had a passion for both for as long as I can remember.  When I'm not busy helping clients achieve their real estate goals, I'm enjoying time with my family and researching and documenting the body of Ju-Nel works.  I have been intrigued by Rowley and Wilson since my wife and I acquired our Ju-Nel home in 2007 and I began my journey of discovery of the architects' history, inspirations and personal experiences.  For years I have searched for and collected information on Rowley and Wilson and their body of work, and with the introduction of this site I want to share what I've learned.  

To date, I have identified total 147 works by Rowley and Wilson.  Years of research has led to the re-discovery of 48  homes by Rowley and Wilson which are included in the total of 147.  None of these 48 homes is documented in Ju-Nel lists from the no longer active ju-nelhomes.net site, the Dallas Historical Society, or lists from D Magazine and the Advocate. At some point, someone knew these 48 were Ju-Nel homes, and no doubt there are a number of original owners who know they own a Ju-Nel home, or live next to one, or know someone who did.  Yes, there are actually original owners still living in their Ju-Nel homes.  But as time passes and that knowledge is lost, the homes are forgotten.  Sadly, I've identified six Ju-Nel homes lost to demolition.  Those homes are gone forever, but with awareness and appreciation, I hope we can stop the demolition of any additional architecturally significant homes.  More on this in the Preservation section.

It is important to understand the significance of the 99 known works.  Most are only aware of the 30-35 homes identified over the last 15-20 years by publications such as D Magazine and the Advocate Magazine, which have both done a terrific job of raising awareness of Ju-Nel.  Many Ju-Nel followers thought maybe there were another 20 homes waiting to be discovered.  For the vast majority of visitors to this site, seeing the 99 for the first time will be an eye-opening experience; you will have had no idea most of these homes were Ju-Nel.  The planned release of the re-discovered 48 works in 2024-2025 will complete the documentation and publication of the currently identified entire body of work.

Few people are qualified to write an historical overview of Dallas architecture and the roles that Rowley and Wilson played in building significant mid-century modern homes in our neighborhoods.  Edward Avila authored this terrific AIA Dallas piece on Ju-Nel and I hope you take a couple minutes to read it in its entirety.

...But then how does one account for Wright and his place in the Modernism discussion?  If you visualize the path of Gropius and his Bauhaus school modernism against the path of Wright and his belief that Nature was sacred (capitalize the N like you would the G for God), you can feel the dissimilarity of the two ideals.  Wright's design philosophy of ‘organic architecture’ (heavily influenced by Sullivan) proposed that built environments should accommodate the natural world in service of a greater whole...while we see the European style (i.e Gropius, Mies and Corbusier) with an emphasis on volume, asymmetrical compositions, and minimal ornamentation.  

Click on the question mark to explore the ideas

For architect designed & built homes, it is customary to name the home  after the client who commissioned the work, or the first owner.  You will see most Ju-Nel homes now have a name (some are not yet identified).  Pictured is Hazael Williams Beckett who built the only Ju-Nel in Sunnyvale.  The work is now referred to as 'Beckett House at New Hope Farm'.  Mrs. Beckett (1911 - 2006) was well known in Dallas; an excerpt from her obituary:

After her husband died in 1956, Hazael returned to the rural area she had loved as a child. She built a home on a farm she inherited from her maternal grandfather, H.O. Samuell, in New Hope, Texas (now Sunnyvale). There she hosted many meetings for non-profit organizations and church groups sometimes serving vegetables she had grown in her large garden. Hazael also began to write her autobiography, Growing Up In Dallas, which she published in 1985.