William Burgess Allen was an architect with a passion for opera. After many years as the Assistant Building Inspector for the City of Dallas, he retired at 62 then spent years collecting both sound and visual recordings in the formats of the times – 78 RPM records, audio cassettes, and VCR tapes.

William Burgess Allen died a few weeks at the age of ninety, and his children would like to see this collection go to a person or institution that can value it. While Bruce Allen shares his dad’s love of architecture, neither he nor his siblings feel the same love for classical music as their dad. “He did help me design a very unique A-frame that I am currently building in Western Montana,” William wrote by email. “Dad and I did have a lot in common – but not our taste in music.”

Bruce describes the collection:

“58 78rmp vintage records. Some are multiple record sets; example… Tchaikovsky – Three Great Ballets album: Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker- by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. Also included in this list are some Big Band record sets besides operas and classical music.  A rack of 200 cassettes, all labeled. Around 92 VCR tapes (some may be blank). Example: Der Rosenkavaliner Acts I,II,III, Tristain und Isolde Acts 1,2,3. These are housed in a nice set of pull out trays.”

Though he lived in a single house by White Rock Lake for 50 years, Mr. Allen spent his final five years at a lake house on Cedar Creek, near Tool, Texas. Mr. Allen’s collection is available, as a set, at no charge to a good home. Contact Bruce Allen at [email protected].