logo


Inventory of Historic Homes in Audubon Place

Contributed by Gary Coover, Dan Piette, Doreen Stoller, Maaike & Peter van Bemmel
for more detailed information please go to the inventory file
Hover thumbnails for larger images

804 Harold

804 Harold is a Protected Landmark of the City of Houston and on the National Register of Historic Places.

it was built in 1915 by E.L. Crain & Company for Joseph & Mary Stevenson, and is an exceptional example of Arts & Crafts architecture.

Predominantly Craftsman in style, it also contains elements of Prairie style, has Tudor influences, and even a somewhat Japanese character. It was designed by Joseph Stevenson, and was built with money from Mary's inheritance.

Joseph Stevenson was a carriage maker by trade and in 1903 began a long and successful partnership with a blacksmith named C. Jim Stewart. In addition to building and repairing wagons and buggies, they operated the largest horseshoeing parlor in Texas. Changing with the times to provide auto body and engine services, the firm they founded now provides engineering services and power systems worldwide. In 1991, Stewart & Stevenson was named to the Fortune 500 List of Industrial Companies. The Stevensons lived here until moving to River Oaks in 1945.
INDEX

3404 Audubon
3405 Audubon
3407 Audubon
3415 Audubon
3416 Audubon
3419 Audubon
3500 Audubon
3503 Audubon
3504 Audubon
3506 Audubon
3510 Audubon
3511 Audubon
3601 Audubon
3602 Audubon
3608 Audubon
3611 Audubon
3613 Audubon
3702 Audubon
609 Harold
617 Harold
809 Harold
636 Hawthorne
804 Hawthorne
607 Kipling
816 Kipling
905 Kipling
603 Marshall
607 Marshall
612 Marshall
615 Marshall
705 Marshall
707 Marshall
709 Marshall
711 Marshall
814 Marshall
602 W. Alabama
802 W. Alabama
street view 1
street view 2
street view 6
champion live oak

809 Harold
809 Harold is the oldest home of Audubon Place still standing. Built in 1913 by the Houston Land Corporation, this classic Craftsman-style bungalow was purchased by car dealer John Lewis for $6,500. It was later the home of Swiss-born Dr. Bernard Bunnemeyer, who was in charge of the Houston Weather Office for many years, and his son-in-law, Lucius Talmadge, the financial editor for the Houston Chronicle.

This house has beautiful inlaid floors, built-in nooks, window seats, cabinets, and beamed ceilings in the living room and dining room, all of quarter-sawn oak. Notice the stick-style columns and brackets, and especially the front porch and chimney which are made of milky quartz.


3419 Audubon
3419 Audubon is perhaps the most flamboyant home of Audubon Place. The large yellow 2-story with the tall white columns is Neo-Classical in style. Notice how much taller it is than the bungalows on either side; its dimensions are really closer to Victorian in scale. It was built in 1914 for $4,000 by James & Katherine Dore. He was sales manager for the Houston Car Wheel & Machine Company, suppliers to the railroad industry.


3404 Audubon
3404 Audubon Place was built in 1923 as a typical California bungalow exhibiting classic Craftsman influences.


3405 Audubon
3405 Audubon Place was described by the Houston Daily Post in 1917 as being "one of the most up-to-date and excellent bungalows ever constructed in Houston". It exhibits classic Craftsman influences such as exposed rafter tails and triangular roof brackets.


3407 Audubon
3407 Audubon Place is classic Prairie style, with its long front porch, hip roof, window mounting designs, broad eaves and brackets. It was built for Oscar P. Jackson, who owned one of the largest garden seed companies in the Southwest. Justice of the Peace Wallace & Enid Ragan lived here for many years. It was beautifully restored in 1996 by Tony Herrada and Peter Boyle.


street scene #1

Street scene #6 711 Marshall viewing E

3415 Audubon
3415 Audubon Place. This is a classic Arts & Crafts style brick bungalow, built about 1920. It has unusual swan-like brackets and a decorative gable window.




3416 Audubon
3416 Audubon Place. This huge 2-story Prairie-style brick duplex was built in 1923 for C. Louis Kerr, who was the District Sales Manager for Gulf Refining Company. It is an "over & under" duplex with the entrances on two different streets.




3500 Audubon
3500 Audubon Place. Originally Prairie style Residential Single-Family


3503 Audubon
3503 Audubon Place.In dramatic contrast to the tall yellow house we have a classic example of what is called an "aero plane style" bungalow. It is so called because the long low roof lines resembled the biplanes and aero planes of the day. Notice how the front porch roof even extends over to the right to provide a porte cochere or carport. It was built in 1920, and banker Roy Huffington was the first resident. This house has a large, beautiful French-curve arch between the living room and dining room. I met his son Roy in The Hague, Netherlands in 1967. He was then building his oil & gas empire Huffco and was looking for a geophysicist to work hi Indonesia. He was ambassador to Austria during the first Bush administration. He had a large office in downtown Houston. His former daughter-in-law Arianna Huffington is heavily involved in politics in California


3504 Audubon
3504 Audubon Place. Craftsman; 1-story brick bungalow. In 1925 this 1-story bungalow was the home of the illustrious Italian sculptor Enrico Cerrachio, the same year he created the famous sculpture of Sam Houston in Hermann Park.


3506 Audubon
3506 Audubon Place. Edna W. Saunders was a famous impressario. In 1919 she brought the French Army Veterans Band and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra to Houston for the first time. In 1920, she sold $26,000 in advance tickets for a legendary concert by the Great Caruso.

Some of the artists she promoted included The Metropolitan Opera, The NBC Symphony Orchestra with Arturo Toscanini, Irish tenor John McCormack, Al Jolson, Harry Lauder, Jose Greco, Ethel Barrymore, Will Rogers, Sigmund Romberg, the Ziegfield Follies, Admiral Byrd, Bob Hope, Jeanette McDonald, the Boston "Pops" , and the Chicago Opera Company.Mrs. Saunders' contribution to the cultural development of Houston was immeasurable, and she often entertained many of the world's greatest artists right here around her grand piano


3510 Audubon
3510 Audubon Place. Prairie; 2-story red brick This classic Prairie-style brick house was built for the Siercovich family, owners of the Home Bakery on Elgin Street. In 2005 a third story was built with a smaller foot print than the rest of the house. This gives it an unusual pyramidal look [PvB].

3511 Audubon
3511 Audubon Place. Prairie; 2-story stucco.

3601 Audubon
3601 Audubon Place. Prairie; 2-story green frame, stucco porch In 1904, a 16-year old Norwegian sailor, who could not speak a word of English, landed in New York with only $ 12 in his pocket Two years later he went to the Panama Canal Zone as a laborer and carpenter, eventually landing in Houston with enough money to start a small contracting business. After returning briefly to Norway to get married, he returned to Houston and built this Prairie-style frame house with its big stucco porch in late 1913.

Originally named Thomas Tellefsen (his grandfather was Tellef Halvorsen), the naturalization clerk misspelled the last name as Tellepsen. In 1912, he designed and built his first house for the Houston Land Corporation, but this was the first one he built speculatively just for himself. He and his wife and infant son would ride out on the streetcar on Sundays to sit here and wait for prospective buyers. Tellepsen Construction Company went on to become one of the largest construction firms in the South, and certainly the largest in Houston. The Shamrock Hotel was one of their major projects.

3602 Audubon
3602 Audubon Place. This large 2-story Craftsman-style house was built in 1913 for $4,450 by Theo C. Bering for his daughter Leonora and her new husband Albert Armand. Only two months after the wedding, burglars cut the phone lines, broke in and stole over $1,200 in wedding presents and silver. When Mrs. Armand passed away Houston's most renowned clergyman, Dr. William States Jacobs, conducted her funeral service here at the residence.


Kipling street
Street view: Kipling @ Roseland looking East


registered tree
Champion Live Oak 3611 Audubon Place

Location: 3611 Audubon Place. This Live Oak (Quercus Virginiana) is registered with the Harris County Tree Registry (index 263). It has a circumference of 181", a height of 54' and a crown spread of 114 . Only 8 Live Oaks in Harris County have a spread that exceeds this one. It was nominated by Lynne Gevirtz.

3611 Audubon
3608 Audubon Place. Prairie; large 2-story white brick This large white brick house was built in 1917, but if you were standing here in 1940, the house wasn’t here. However, if you looked down Audubon Place you would see it coming straight toward you being moved by several huge trucks from its former location at the comer of Audubon Place and W. Alabama. When Dr. Philo Howard wanted to build the 1 -story strip shopping center at the corner, his wife Nancy would only give permission if he could find another lot to put their house on. Mrs. Howard continued to live here until the early 1970's.


3611 Audubon
3611 Audubon Place. Craftsman; 1 story bungalow, brick and shingles This classic Craftsman style bungalow has one of Montrose's largest and most beautiful Live Oaks in front of it. The tree is registered with a span of 108’ in the Harris County Tree Registry (index 263). In 2004 a naked man had climbed in this tree to the entertainment of at least thirty residents and passers by. He was stoned out of his wits and refused to come down. He had to be forced down by two sturdy men of the HFD with a ladder wagon and a catch sail below the branches the man sat on [PvB].


3613 Audubon
3613 Audubon Place. Eclectic - Queen Ann influence; Residential Two-Family.


3702 Audubon
3702 Audubon Place. This unusual California-style bungalow was built in 1922 by Ewart & Lillian Lightfoot. He was superintendent of construction for the George T. Broun Construction Company. Originally from Kentucky, Lightfoot was a prominent building contractor in Houston for 25 years. He was founder and president of the United Motor Courts of America. He lived here until his death in 1950; the house is still owned by his family.


609 Harold
609 Harold. Built in 1914 by contractor and homebuilder Herman and Alice Vogt, this beautiful frame and shingle home was sold to John & Louise Brown. Brown was a printer by trade with Gumming & Sons. Note the unusual wrap around shingled porch with its broad arched bays.

In 2001 the house was extensively remodeled by John Hathcote and Jack Butcher. They did an outstanding job and were nominated for the "Good Brick Award" by the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance.


617 Harold
617 Harold. This unusually decorated house was built in 1918 for Thomas Howell, who listed these professions in the City Directory: real estate, loans, investments, stock raiser, planter, notary, old coins & paper currency, dealer in lumber and owner of the Howell 1,335 acre farm in Howell, Texas.

This house is an interesting mixture of styles - the shingle treatment on the second floor is similar to a type of Queen Anne Victorian known as shingle style, the gables are Arts & Crafts, the enclosed eaves show Prairie influences. Old photographs show the verge boards to be even fancier originally, with a sunburst pattern up at the top. There are several other houses in this neighborhood with similar decorations; probably the work of a particular architect, who as yet remains unknown. This house was once a 5-plex but has luckily been rescued back to single family.


636 Hawthorne
636 Hawthorne. Prairie; beautifully restored 2-story Residential Single-Family with large front porch This classic Prairie style two-story home was completely redone by R. Davis Maxey over several years. After moving it back off the pier and beam foundation to allow renewing the foundation, the house was moved back, gutted and added on to. We are all very grateful that this house was turned into a showcase of preservation and expansion in style. Kudos to the owner for the care and patience with which this was accomplished.


804 Hawthorne
804 Hawthorne. Craftsman; 1 ½ story residemtial single-family home. This home was at one stage used as a church.


607 Kipling
607 Kipling. Prairie; 1 1/2-story beige stucco, white trim, built on three city lots. (from Houston Architectural Guide 1990, AIA) This house, purchased in 1922 by George Cohen, president of Foley Brothers department store, began modestly enough. But in the late ‘30s Cohen and his wife embarked on a series of alterations and additions, carried out by Watkin and hist associate Nolan Barrick, which transformed it into a mini-mansion, replete with Art Deco room that simulates a ship’s interior.


816 Kipling
816 Kipling. 2-story gray frame house This unique house was designed and built for $3,000 in 1913 by Frederick Crosswell, listed in the City Directory that year as a "plasterer". He sold it to a widow, Mrs. Velma Austin, who moved here from the Westmoreland addition. It is perhaps the first house built in Houston of "fire-proof" hollow tile. Note all the unusual porches and angles and the unique porch column design.


905 Kipling
905 Kipling. The large 2-story gray stucco house on the other side of the red brick house was built in 1915 by real estate broker J. William Yeagley. He sold it in 1917 to Arthur G. Whittington, the General Manager of the International and Great Northern Railway. It remained in the Whittington family for nearly 40 years. Craftsman in style, it also has strong Tudor influences in the half-timbered gables and the parapet-like addition on the second floor.


603 Marshall
603 Marshall. The home was built in 1916 in prairie style with a Georgian revival front entrance porch. Bought by Kathi and Brian Stringer in 1988 it was restored and the interior renovated. The Stringers own Brian Stringers Antiques on W. Alabama. They are both collectors and have decorated their home with eclectic style. Their home made the front page and cover story of Houston Life Magazine in September 1994.


607 Marshall
607 Marshall. Mediterranean style 2-story stucco single-family residence A dense six foot tall photinia hedge surrounds the front garden. A huge date palm further amplifies the Mediterranean character of this property


612 Marshall
612 Marshall. This fancy house was built in 1919 for insurance man Percy Nelson and his wife Amelia. This home was recently featured as the cover story of Houston House & Home Magazine.


615 Marshall
615 Marshall. The house is built in traditional craftsman style with exposed rafters and brackets. Until 1985 it was used as a duplex. A second entrance was present on the Western side, leading into the stairwell. The house was lovingly restored in 1990 by James and Linda Hine. A large 20 foot stained glass window was installed where the entrance to the upstairs apartment once stood. An attached two-car garage with two rooms on the second floor, were added while painstakingly maintaining the original style. Downstairs the house still has the original hardwood floors with cherry wood trim.


705 Marshall
705 Marshall. Prairie; 2-story. Remodeled in 2006-7 This was originally built in Prairie style in 1917 for cotton broker Edward Forbes. It was also the longtime home of Leonard & Anna Attwell - he was the comptroller for Humble Oil & Refining Company. This house suffered a bad fire a number of years ago, and was rebuilt in 1982 without using original materials. In 2006 another remodeling job attempted to bring the house more in style with the neighborhood by adding a nice font porch to it. In 2007 Blanca and Andrew Solis put the final touches on this work [PvB].


707 Marshall
707 Marshall. This unusual "airplane" bungalow was built about 1918. In 1921 railroad freight agent McDade Wilburn bought the house, and it has been in the same family until 1988.

Mrs. Sara Ella Jones grew up in the house. After her first marriage she married her High School sweet heart Lewis LeMaistre and bought the house in January 1988. They lived there until they both passed away in 1999 [PvB].


709 Marshall
709 Marshall. Prairie; 2-story green frame, white trim This lovely home was built in 1913 by Fred J. Marett for Chambers Peirce, who was in the loan & investments business. Marett was a French-Canadian born architect, carpenter and builder who moved to Houston in 1897, and subsequently built some of the finer homes of his day. As near as we can tell, only ten of his houses are still standing. Although he spoke very broken and heavily accented English, he was a fastidious carpenter who was apparently fairly wealthy at one time, but died quite poor due to bad business decisions and ill health.

For many years this was the home of the Houston's most noted music teacher and choirmaster, Hu T. Huffmaster. A native of Galveston, he was organist and choirmaster of Trinity Episcopal Church, and later was minister of music at St Paul's Methodist Church. He was also a singer, composer, conductor and arranger, and was very popular due to his many special concerts and civic activities. This was a very musical household - his wife Nonie was a well known mezzo soprano, and his three daughters were all concert pianists.


711 Marshall
711 Marshall. Prairie; 2-story tan frame This 2-story Prairie-style house was built in 1916 for William Smedes, the manager of the National Biscuit Company plant downtown. Houston Chronicle columnist Leon Hale recently wrote a story about living here in the 1940's, when he rented the room in the upper left comer of the second floor.


814 Marshall
814 Marshall. Prairie; 2-story. brown stucco, cream trim, burgundy roof Homebuilder Henry Yates completed this beautiful Prairie-style stucco house in 1915 and sold it to Walter & Ida Ennis. Originally from Memphis, Ennis owned the Packard Auto Livery Company, which today would be known as a rental car agency. At age 65 he was also one of the oldest train conductors on the Houston-New Orleans Flyer until he lost his life in a derailment near Baton Rouge in 1917. Tragically, his son had been killed in a car wreck about a year earlier on the Galveston- Houston road. Ida Ennis and her daughter continued to live here for many years.


602 W. Alabama
602 - 610 W. Alabama. 1920 Strip Shopping Center. The Acadian Baker has been at # 604 since 1979.


802 W. Alabama
802 W. Alabama. Large 2-story white frame. This grand house was the longtime home of bookkeeper Jefferson & Jane Langham. It was completed in January 1914, and cost nearly $8000 to construct It is a mixture of late Victorian and Classical Revival styles, but unfortunately has lost its original wooden porch columns. Mrs Langham was a cousin of the Abercrombies. In 1918, their daughter, Miss Emily, won first prize in the nation wide War Savings Poster Contest.

West Alabama was previously named Mound Street, West Milam road, and Ross Street. In 1902, the Texas Western Narrow Gauge Railroad ran right past here in the street right-of-way, presumably bringing produce to market.

Virginia and Francesca on Marshall Street
615 Marshall viewing West
Virginia and Francesca

Back to top