The Route 66 Museum is located in Clinton, Oklahoma and took the place of a western history museum containing fossils and old farm machinery. To accomodate all of what the Route 66 Museum had to offer, Elliott expanded and added 5,000 square feet to the original building. The exterior of the building slightly resembles a 1959 Cadillac Coupe de Ville.

Not only does the museum take you back in time through the various exhibits, the building itself looks like you’re in an old car. It is lit with neon lights. The entry way contains high, industrial looking ceilings.Each room is designed in such a way that is specific to each decade. 

The Devon Boathouse looks out onto the Oklahoma River and is at the edge of the Boathouse District. It contains spaces that are available to rent out to the public. There are reception, event spaces, catering facilities, a high performance fitness center, propoulsion rowing tank, endless pool, high altitude training room, a weight room, locker rooms, and a boat storage and repair area. It is home to the Oklahoma City University’s rowing, canoe and kayak teams and OKC National High Performance Center programs through US Rowing and US Canoe/Kayak.

The Devon Boathouse has a very modern architecture style. Its prism shape and large glass windows have a very smooth visual appeal to them. The view of the Oklahoma City River is beautiful whether you’re there for a banquet, to work out, or to work. 

Rand Elliott of Elliott + Associates Architects designs buildings for the Oklahoma City area. He constructs commercial, residential, and community buildings.

The Ghost Gallery is located in the basement of the historic Buick Building located in Automobile Alley in downtown Oklahoma City. The owners of the building had always hoped for an art gallery in the basement and Elliott + Associates Architects made that dream a reality. Ghost Gallery contains different art exhibits that appear and disappear without warning and a small area for lectures and private dinners hosting up to nine people.

The Ghost Gallery looks like a space to escape reality to relish in good conversation and delve into interesting topics all while being surrounded by unique art. The seclusion of the basement is a unique idea for an art gallery. I like the exposed brick because it reminds that although the art gallery is a modern renovation to the building, the brick leaves some history in it. 

Stott designed this home in 1917. It is an early Californian Bungalow style. It captures a certain secret garden home atmosphere. It differs from her other homes because it’s not the classic Old English style that typically comes to mind when looking at her other work. It still contains extraordinary detail the way she designed the porch to look out onto the beautiful landscape. In the middle of the house, there is a spiral staircase, yet I’m not sure if this is the original staircase that she designed. Inside, there are two living rooms, each with its own fireplace, and a window looking out to the large backyard garden.

When designing this specific home, I think that Stott wanted to emphasize the beauty of the outdoors. It seems as though she focused on incorporating the yard even when designing the interior of the house. The large windows allows people to gaze outside while enjoying the comfort of the indoors. 

Little Milton is a two-story home built in 1926 for Stott’s family friends, the Morans. It is designed in the Interwar Period Old English/Arts and Crafts Style in association with the architectural firm of Stephenson and Meldrum. This was the largest commission that Stott received and her last work in Australia before she migrated to South Africa.

Little Milton was modeled after Grand Milton, an English manor house located in Oxfordshire. Little Milton has brick and ochred stucco and a tiled roof. The garage to the north is an integral part of the overall design of the mansion. It is of historical significance to the Victorian state.

When comparing Great Milton to Stott’s Little Milton, it is easy to see where the inspiration came from. The attention to precise detail is shown in many aspects of the mansion. The many windows gives the home a certain openness and welcoming effect. The red brick driveway provides the home with a simple differentiation that not every house has to offer.

Great Milton

Little Milton

Muriel Stott was born in 1889 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She was most likely one of the first women in Australia to own her own architecture firm, which opened in 1917. Before that, however, she trained and earned her certification at the firm of Fischer and Bradshaw. The next year, she worked at J. J. Meagher’s firm, where she designed and built two of her own homes.  Her homes were designed in Victoria and the surrounding areas. Her most known design is the Little Milton she designed for a family friend, the Morans.

All of her homes reflect the Old English/Arts and Crafts Style. The detail in the design shows how much attention and care she put into each of her homes to ensure that it was unique to each family that lived in it.

The Flatiron Building is a 22 story triangular building located in Manhattan. Designed by Daniel Burnham and Frederick P. Dinkelberg, it is triangular and steel framed. It is Renaissance and Beaux-Arts style and opened in 1902.

This is a very unique and abstract way of constructing a building. Not only is it odd in the way it’s shaped, it also has beautiful detailing on it.

The Blackstone Hotel was designed by Mauran, Russell, & Crowell of St. Louis. It was built by Bellows and Maclay in Downtown Fort Worth in 1929. With 23 stories, it contributes quite a bit to the Fort Worth skyline. This hotel contains a 5 story annex to the south, plaster ceiling on the second level and the stairway, rooftop terraces, and an outdoor pool on top of the annex.

When I look at the Fort Worth skyline, it’s easy to pick out the decadent art-deco building that is the Blackstone. The detail that the architects used when designing it really adds character to the sometimes run down buildings that make up the downtown area.

The Forest Park Tower, formerly known as the Forest Park Apartments, are located on Park Place and Forest Park Boulevard. Construction started in 1927, but had to be put on hold due to the stock market crash in 1929. The building opened in 1930 and was renamed in 2010. The 12 story building was designed by Verne E. Shanklin of Dallas and constructed  by Humphrey and Churchill of Dallas. The building is made of a steel frame decorated in brown brick and cast stone trim.

I remember driving past the apartments when I was a kid and it used to be so huge to me. I told my mom I wanted to live there when I grew up because I thought it was so beautiful.

The Botanical Research Institute of Texas is commonly referred to as the BRIT. It is located right next to the Botanical Gardens of Fort Worth in the Cultural District. The purpose of this building is to learn about conservation and botanical research.

The BRIT was designed by the H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture from New York. Built in 2011, the BRIT meets the needs of the credits of the LEED certifications which include: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy & atmosphere, materials & resources, and indoor environmental quality. The tall glass windows look out onto a beautiful grass field which emphasizes the admiration of the earth. Inside, the winding staircase leads to an open room with high, wooden ceilings, Although very modern, the BRIT is an extraordinary building that makes looking at it even better than looking out of it.