Gathering Place Park (Tulsa, Oklahoma)

 park, garden, place with historical importance, estate (manor / mansion land), mansion / manor house / villa

The B. B. and Priscilla Blair residence.

Designed by John Duncan Forsyth.

Constructed in 1952 for Tulsa millionaire, B. B. Blair, one of the largest investors
in Canal Refining Co. and Western Supply Co., and his wife Priscilla Blair on their dream lot, 33.2 acres overlooking the Arkansas River on historic Riverside Drive, a plot that the Blair's cozily called their little 'farm'. The Blair's commissioned local architect John Duncan Forsyth to design their southern plantation-style home, inspired by 'Beauvoir', the Mississippi home of John Davis, President of the Confederacy during the Civil War. With two stories, expansive gardens and wide veranda, the home for many years functioned as a full working farm, complete with a large vegetable garden, fruit trees, and a manager's cottage. Many can recall driving by the mansion in 50's and 60's and smelling the aroma of Blair's freshly mown alfalfa.

Blair died in 1980, after which it was inherited by Priscilla Blair, who was a member of the Tulsa Garden Club and also a charter member of the Philbrook Art Museum. The home was passed onto the Blair's only son, John Blair, a longtime resident of Swan Lake, Montana, upon Priscilla's death in 1995. John Blair promptly sold the residence.

In 2012, Dan Buford, a nursing-home builder and twenty-year resident of the Blair Mansion, sold the property to the George Kaiser Foundation, with the intention the Buford would be given a year to try and relocate the home. After consulting numerous architects, the plan was to have the home split into three halves and moved to a separate location. This would prove to be nearly impossible and extremely costly. After a year, Buford gave up.

Demolished on February 1, 2014, to make way for the Tulsa Gathering Space.