Fountainhead, the J. Willis Hughes House in Jackson’s Fondren area, is one of the few Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in Mississippi and the only surviving one outside Ocean Springs. Commissioned in 1948 by oil businessman J. Willis Hughes, it was designed in Wright’s Usonian mode for a wooded, sloping site and built from 1950 to 1954. Its striking Y-shaped plan is based on a grid of 30-60-90 triangles that governs the house’s spaces and details. Despite severe structural problems caused by Yazoo clay and later deterioration, architect Robert Parker Adams restored the house after buying it in 1979. Its 2025 acquisition by the Mississippi Museum of Art began a new effort to preserve and open this important modern building to the public.

Jackson, Mississippi · USA