MANSIONS AND HOMES
During the late nineteenth century and
the early part of the twentieth century, affluent Houstonians built large mansions and
fine homes throughout the city. Some have survived and are still used as residences
or serve other purposes. Main Street was lined with mansions, all of which have since
given way to office buildings. The Henry Fox house, the last mansion on Main Street,
occupied the site of the present Exxon Building. The Waldo Mansion, on 202
Westmoreland Avenue, is the oldest occupied house in Houston. Built in 1885 at the
intersection of Caroline and Rusk Streets, it was moved to its present site
in1905. Other mansions which have been restored include the John Kirby Mansion,
designed by James Ruskin and built in 1928. The Kirby mansion became the
headquarters of the Red Cross and is currently owned by Gulf States Oil Corporation.
The
T. P. Lee house was built in 1910
and was purchased by the Basilian Fathers of Toronto in 1946 to serve as the first
building of the new University of St. Thomas. The old Howard Hughes home on 3921
Yoakum has also been incorporated into St. Thomas University. The W.W. Fondren, Sr.
house, built in 1923, is one of the last mansions remaining on Montrose Avenue, once
Houston's most elegant thoroughfare. Close by are the Waldo Mansion and No. 435 Hawthorne,
where the late Lyndon B. Johnson lived when he taught at Old Sam Houston High School in
the 1920's. It is still owned by the Johnson family.
One of the historic communities in Houston is the Old Sixth Ward, better known as the Sabine Historic District. It is bounded by Washington and Union, Houston and Capitol streets and the Glenwood Cemetery. The district has the largest collection of intact wood frame Victorian homes in the city, dating from the late 1800's to the early 1900's and is listed on the National Register for Historic Places. Another historic district is the Broad Acres neighborhood, in the South Main section of Houston, featuring homes built between 1923 and 1930. The district has applied for listing on the National Register for Historic Places.
Woodland Heights is a late nineteenth Century community containing Colonial Cuban and Greek Revival style homes. Travis School, which opened in 1890 as a one-room country school, is located in this area. Among its alumni are Texas Senator John Tower and the novelist William Goyen.
Tour Houston's Old Mansions and Homes
