The American Dream, to go from rags to riches. What better place and time to live out this
dream than Texas in the 19th Century. Hi everyone, Ken here, welcome to this house.
Today we are exploring the house of a man who lived out the American Dream,
this is the story of John Houghton’s House in Austin Texas.
Make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an exciting episode of this house.
John Henry Houghton was born into money. His childhood consisted of a luxurious lifestyle as
his parents were very wealthy. However, the money would run out during the American civil war and
his family would be cast from riches to rags. John worked hard to get his old life back, he got an
honest job working as a teamster, delivering goods across the country from Georgetown to Austin.
By 1879, he had managed to save up a little bit of money and decided to risk it all in a
new business venture. He formed a partnership with J.H. Robinson to go into the wholesale business,
dealing in tobacco and alcohol. He made good money in this partnership, but decided to
roll the dice again and invest all his money in ranch lands. This investment in real estate and
agriculture paid off in huge ways for him and he became incredibly wealthy. In 1886 he set out to
build his dream house. He hired the architect James Wahrenberger to design a stately home in
which he could raise his family. Wahrenberger had recently made headlines in his bid to
design the new Texas State Capitol, becoming a finalist and placing second in the competition.
When completed, the house stood tall over Guadalupe street, commanding attention to
its towers. Its striking composition instantly made the house a landmark,
completely unique and beautiful in its own right. From a central tower with a pyramidal
steep roof with protruding dormers, to a rounded tower with a conical roof, and various styles of
dormers piercing the roof line, the house was a fine example of matured Victorian architecture.
Entering the house through the central tower, you would have been welcomed by a gracious foyer.
Turning to the left you would have seen the grand staircase in all of it’s intricacies delicately
pieced together with its architectural elements. Continuing on would take you to an ornate library
and then to a very spacious ballroom. A grand parlor sat to the right of the stairs with an
intricate set of folding doors that continued into a large, octagonal dining room. Throughout
the house you would have found an eclectic mix of architectural details. From masterfully
crafted stained glass, to grand fireplaces, and artisan crafted millwork, John Houghton’s house
was said to contain every bit of what was to be expected in a grand Victorian mansion.
John would enjoy this house until his final days when he died in 1910, his wife following
shortly after him in 1911. This lavish mansion was willed to their daughter Josephine Houghton Allen
and her husband Wilbur Price Allen. It is not exactly clear why, but by the 1920s the house was
no longer being used as a single family residence and had been utilized as shops, apartments,
and office space for various businesses. In 1973, the Houghton House was purchased by
John Stokes, a contractor and developer who wished to cash in on Austin’s building boom. He wanted to
tear down the house and build a large parking garage in its place. The local preservationists
sounded the alarms, putting out scathing reviews of the development plans in the local papers.
Stokes was quoted as saying “ I am not going to preserve that house. If someone wants to
restore it, they can buy it for 250,000 dollars.” The public outcry to save the house escalated all
the way up to State Representative Sarah Weddington. She drafted up plans to save
the house and use it for state offices with a plan to fund the restoration from Texas Park and
Wildlife excess funds. While all of this was going on, Stokes began parting out the house
and became increasingly frustrated. He was quoted as saying that the Houghton House is “Nothing but
a … shack inside” and complained that the only people who wanted to save it were “a bunch of old
ladies.” Something meaningful must have happened to John Stokes over the next week because he later
offered the house for free to anyone who could move it with a gift of 10,000 dollars for saving
him the headache. He put a time limit on this offer for 120 days and quickly the fine folks of
Austin began raising money to save the house. Only about halfway through the 120 day period, Stokes
was issued a demolition permit and went back on his word. By September 9th of 1973 the house had
been leveled. It was subsequently replaced by this large parking garage which has been widely
criticized for destroying not only a beautiful house, but blighting the entire neighborhood.
Make sure to hit that subscribe button so you can join us as we uncover america’s history
through its architecture. Another way you can show your support of This House is by grabbing
a piece of This House logo branded merch from our new merch shop. I’d also like to take a moment to
say thankyou to our members whose names you can see on screen now. Join our membership
program today to have your name included as a This House Supporter. As always, thank you
all for watching, I really hope that you enjoyed this video. I’ll see you next time on this house.