On November 20, 2025, the Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) confirmed the purchase of Fountainhead, a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1948 and completed in 1954. The renowned modernist architect designed the residence and its furnishings for oil businessman J. Willis Hughes, who lived there with his family until 1980. Established in 1911, the MMA is the largest art museum in the state of Mississippi, offering exhibitions, public programs, artistic and community partnerships, educational initiatives, and opportunities for exchange year-round through a permanent collection of paintings, photography, multimedia works, and sculpture. The purchase is part of the Museum’s goal to embed itself in neighborhoods across the city in ways that support its community-building priorities, making the architectural landmark available to the public for tours with reservations. The initiative is inspired by institutions such as the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which acquired the Wright-designed Bachman-Wilson House in 2015.
According to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, the architect designed 1,114 architectural works of all types, 532 of which were realized. As with other works of modern architecture, maintaining this built heritage over time presents technical, cultural, and economic challenges. The Museum notes that the Fountainhead residence is an example of what Wright called Usonian homes, typically single-level bungalows designed for what were considered middle-income families in the United States. Usonian homes feature native materials, flat roofs with cantilevered overhangs, and generous natural lighting. Designed by Wright when he was 81, the residence includes four bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and two half bathrooms across 3,558 square feet, including the basement and porches.
The property, located in Jackson’s Fondren neighborhood, was purchased with approval from the Jackson Planning and Zoning Board and City Council. The design reflects Wright’s conception of organic architecture and follows the contours of the landscape, which determined its parallelogram-shaped module nestled into a wooded hillside. A diamond-shaped geometry is repeated throughout the house, dictating the placement of the walls and the shape of the interior spaces. With walls and ceilings made of Heart Tidewater Red Cypress, the house was built without stud walls, sheetrock, brick, tile, carpeting, or paint. Large windows bring in natural light and frame views of the surrounding landscape. Additional elements to be preserved by the Museum include Wright-designed built-in furniture, hardwood floors, wooden shutters, skylights, a carport, a terrace, three fireplaces, and the original copper-sheeted roof.
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After 1980, the single-family home was purchased by the late architect Robert Parker Adams, who oversaw its restoration. In June 2025, Crescent Sotheby’s International Realty listed the property. Although the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as the Hughes House, it is widely known as “Fountainhead,” as Ayn Rand’s novel The Fountainhead is believed to have been inspired by Wright’s life. Taking advantage of the site’s sloping topography, Wright extended the bedroom wing into the landscape with a fountain that feeds into a swimming pool, which in turn flows into a stream.
According to the Museum Director, the property will now become “a dynamic extension” of the institution’s offerings, opening to visitors for the first time. The Museum will manage partnerships to support its preservation and the extensive archival collections related to it. MMA will begin working with architecture and restoration professionals to restore the home and fund a long-term maintenance plan. The property will be preserved and programmed under the Museum’s direction, ensuring its relevance for generations to come. Buses will transport visitors to the house from the Museum’s main campus in downtown Jackson. The opening date will be announced at a later time.
Another modernist landmark in the news in the United States this month is I. M. Pei’s Dallas City Hall. Debate has intensified around the Dallas City Council’s discussion of whether to repair, sell, or demolish the 47-year-old building following growing concerns about long-deferred maintenance and the need for major investment. Earlier this year, SPPARC architecture and design studio revealed plans to renovate the former Ravenscourt Park Hospital in Hammersmith, London, which has stood vacant for two decades. The building is considered one of the first major modern buildings in the UK and was Europe’s largest independent acute hospital when it was opened by King George V in 1933. In Japan, a citizen-led campaign recently proposed a new use for Kenzo Tange’s Kagawa Gymnasium, which is slated for demolition. Built between 1961 and 1964, the Kagawa Prefectural Gymnasium is regarded as a Brutalist landmark of Japan’s postwar modernist era. Discussion surrounding its future dates back to its permanent closure in 2014, following a roof leak that caused structural problems in the ceiling boards.