History in Print: ‘The Architecture of Birdsall P. Briscoe’

Birdsall P. Briscoe’s architectural career spanned the years 1912 to 1956 — a period when Houston transformed from an ambitious town on Buffalo Bayou into an international city with an economy powered by cotton, trade and oil. The country houses Briscoe designed for three generations of affluent clients, located in such neighborhoods as Courtlandt Place, Shadyside, Broadacres and River Oaks, show his exceptional skill in formulating stylistic and social identities for his clients and their families.

Architectural historian Stephen Fox’s new book The Architecture of Birdsall P. Briscoe examines Briscoe’s country houses, offering a glimpse into the architect’s methods and analyzing how Briscoe built a “social architecture” to frame his clientele during periods of economic expansion and contraction. Fox demonstrates how Briscoe cultivated and managed elements of taste, style and fashion to embody class identity and solidarity, and the ways Briscoe and his peers interpreted and reflected early 20th-century Progressive Era ideals to realize the vision of local civic leaders.

Illustrated with color photos by Paul Hester, The Architecture of Birdsall P. Briscoe will enchant readers with its detail and contextual clarity, offering a treasure trove of insight into a significant period in Houston’s social history and an architect who helped design it.

Fox’s presentation will be followed by a Q&A and book signing.

Photo: Craig F. Cullinan House (1926, Birdsall P. Briscoe) / by Paul Hester

About the author

Stephen Fox is an architectural historian and a fellow of the Anchorage Foundation of Texas. He lectures in architecture at Rice University and the University of Houston and is the author of the AIA Houston Architectural Guide and The Country Houses of John F. Staub, as well as a contributor to Bridging Cultures: Reflections on the Heritage Identity of the Texas-Mexico Borderlands.

About the photographer

Paul Hester is a photographer based in Fayetteville, Texas, and Houston. Recently retired as lecturer in photography at Rice University’s Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts, Hester and his collaborator Lisa Hardaway have been photographers for California Romantica by Diane Keaton, Historic Texas Courthouses by Michael Andrews, Georgia O’Keeffe and Her Houses: Ghost Ranch and Abiquiu by Barbara Buhler Lynes and Agapita Judy López, Houston’s Silent Garden: Glenwood Cemetery, 1871-2009, by Suzanne Turner and Joanne Seale Wilson, A Sense of Place: The Architecture of Curtis and Windham, Philip Johnson and Texas by Frank D. Welch, Carlos Jiménez: Buildings, and Carlos Jiménez: Thirty Years, Thirty Works. Hester’s photography is in the collection of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Amon Carter Museum of Art in Fort Worth, the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D. C., the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

Location and parking

Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the program will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Fondren Hall in the Jones Youth Building at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 5501 Main Street at Binz. The Jones Building is located just north of the main sanctuary; enter from the courtyard between the buildings. Free parking is available in the St. Paul’s lot at Fannin and Binz (enter from Binz).

Pre-purchase your book and save 10 percent!

Purchase The Architecture of Birdsall P. Briscoe when you register for this event and save 10 percent off the cover price. Your books will be available for pick-up at History in Print, and Stephen Fox will be available to sign them following the program.

Copies of The Architecture of Birdsall P. Briscoe will be sold at the event for $85.

This event is part of the Bart Truxillo Program Series, which honors the memory of pioneer preservationist and Preservation Houston co-founder Bart Truxillo. The Bart Truxillo Program Series is made possible by the generous contributions of Preservation Houston’s members and friends.