DeGolyer House
DEGOLYER HOUSE
A NATIVE OF GREENSBORO, KANSAS, EVERETTE LEE DEGOLYER
(1886-1956) PARTICIPATED IN MAJOR OIL EXPLORATION SUC-
CESSES IN MEXICO WHILE STILL A STUDENT AT THE UNI-
VERSITY OF OKLAHOMA. RETURNING TO COMPLETE HIS DEGREE,
HE MARRIED NELL VIRGINIA GOODRICH (1886-1972) OF NORMAN,
OKLAHOMA. DEGOLYER BECAME A WORLD RENOWNED PETRO-
LEUM GEOLOGIST AND RARE BOOK COLLECTOR.
IN 1936 EVERETTE AND NELL DEGOLYER AND THEIR FOUR
CHILDREN MOVED TO DALLAS. THEY HIRED CALIFORNIA ARCHI-
TECTS DENMAN SCOTT AND BURTON SCHUTT TO DESIGN THEIR
NEW HOME OVERLOOKING WHITE ROCK LAKE. EXHIBITING
OUTSTANDING FEATURES OF THE SPANISH COLONIAL REVIVAL
STYLE, THE HOUSE WAS BEGIN IN 1938 AND COMPLETED IN
1940. NOTED LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT ARTHUR BERGER PLANNED
THE GROUNDS OF THE ESTATE TO COMPLEMENT ITS NATURAL
SURROUNDS. AN IMPORTANT ADDITION TO TEXAS' ARCHI-
TECTURAL HISTORY, THE RAMBLING ONE-STORY HOUSE IS
EVOCATIVE OF A MEXICAN HACIENDA AND NOTED FOR ITS
PICTURESQUE MASSING AND FINE CRAFTSMANSHIP.
FOLLOWING THE DEGOLYERS' DEATHS, THE DEGOLYER FOUNDA-
TION DONATED THE HOUSE, GROUNDS, AND LIBRARY TO SOUTHERN
METHODIST UNIVERSITY. THE LIBRARY WAS RETAINED BY THE
UNIVERSITY, AND THE HOUSE AND GROUNDS WERE PURCHASED
BY THE CITY OF DALLAS IN 1975.
Submitted by Denise Simard.