The Story of the King House
Frank Lloyd Wright
The story of 904 Briar Hill begins with famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright and his clients Dr. and Mrs. Charles E. Bell. Sometime around 1949, Dr. Bell commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design a house for him at this location and construction began.
At the time, this location was not yet considered "Belleville" and was referred to as "East St. Louis." Both the selling family and the Belleville Historical Society has a full set of blueprints of the original design. Each page of Wright's blueprints bears his stamp and is titled "House for Dr. and Mrs. Charles E Bell, East St Louis, Frank Lloyd Wright Architect."
Unfortunately, Dr Bell unexpectedly passed away in the early stages of construction and the building project was stopped.
Charles E. King
Charles King, another noted mid-century modern architect, purchased the unfinished project and built the home on the property as his private residence. The main design elements of the home are his. The picture above is from the first phase of construction. Later, under another owner who had more children, Charles King was commissioned to build the other main part of the current structure and it was constructed on top of Wright's original foundation which is situated to the left of the initial building. Still later, these two buildings were connected to create the house as it exists today.
The Current Owners
Bob & Arlene Goalby
The current family purchased the home in 1968, raised their children, and lived in the home until 2023. Bob Goalby was a professional golfer who may be most notably known for winning the Master's Tournament in 1968. With 55 acres of land to work with, he converted some of the land into fairways and greens for his own private golf course for a time.
