Broadacres is a subdivision in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, United States, within the Boulevard Oaks community.Civic Association Architectural Review/Deed Restriction Contacts
." Boulevard Oaks. Retrieved on December 25, 2012. It is located north of Bissonnet Street, south of U.S. Route 59, west of the

Houston Museum District The Houston Museum District is an association of 19 museums, galleries, cultural centers and community organizations located in Houston, Texas, dedicated to promoting art, science, history and culture. The Houston Museum District currently inc ...

, and east of other subdivisions of Boulevard Oaks. The neighborhood is known for its large lots,

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

ism, broad tree canopies, wide streets with medians, and affluence.

History

Broadacres was developed by prominent Houston attorney and banker Captain James A. Baker in cooperation with his son, attorney James A. Baker, Jr., in the early 1920s. Baker, Sr. had purchased a parcel of property north of

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...

– and close to the burgeoning new Museum District – in 1908. In 1922, his son and seventeen other investors purchased the land, which had been subdivided into 26 lots, and began constructing infrastructure and the first set of homes. Kate Sayen Kirkland, author of ''James A. Baker of Houston, 1857-1941'', said that "the Bakers conceived their Broadacres enclave as a public amenity distinguished by fine architecture and distinctive planning but limited in ownership to personal and professional friends invited to invest in the project."

William Ward Watkin William Ward Watkin (January 21, 1886 – June 24, 1952) was an architect primarily practicing in Houston, Texas. He was the founder of the Architecture Department of Rice University in 1912, and remained on the Rice faculty until his death ...

, a prominent Houston architect, devised the master plan for the development; Watkin, Birdsall P. Briscoe, and

John Staub John Fanz Staub (September 12, 1892 – April 13, 1981) was a residential architect who designed numerous traditionally-styled homes and mansions, mostly in Houston, Texas, from the 1920s to 1960s. Early life John F. Staub was born on September ...

served as architects for several of the houses. The families who had houses built in Broadacres were not singular architectural patrons.Fox, p
21
Construction in Broadacres ceased during the Great Depression. James A. Baker, Jr. never lived in Broadacres, because he believed he would be unable to afford a $20,000 (about $ today) down payment for a lot. By the 1930s, Broadacres "collectively displayed its residents as a Houston upper class," according to Rice University architectural historian Stephen Fox. In 1980, the family of Gus Sessions Wortham, a local businessman and philanthropist, donated his former house to the

University of Houston System The University of Houston System is a public university system in Texas, comprising four separate and distinct universities. It also owns and holds broadcasting licenses to a public television station (KUHT) and a public radio station (KUHF). Th ...

for use as the chancellor's residence. The three-storey house, which sits on of land, was constructed by oilman

Frank Sterling Frank Prior Sterling (October 26, 1869 – July 16, 1938) was an American oilman and oil industry businessperson, based in Houston, Texas. Sterling and his brothers grew up on Double Bayou in Chambers County, southern Texas. They were ambitious a ...

and was the most expensive in the neighborhood upon its completion in 1927. The chancellor is required by contract to live at the Wortham House.U of H chancellor living large
." ''

KTRK-TV KTRK-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on Bissonnet Stre ...

''. Saturday May 9, 2009. Retrieved on November 20, 2012. Only the second floor of the residence is reserved for the chancellor; the first and third floors are reserved for artwork and public events. It is a contributing property to the Broadacres district. It was scheduled to undergo a renovation in 2017. the value was about $6 million. The Broadacres Historic District, which includes 18 contributing buildings at 1300-1506 North Blvd. and 1305-1515 South Blvd., was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1980. It includes works designed by architects Birdsall Briscoe and

John F. Staub John Fanz Staub (September 12, 1892 – April 13, 1981) was a residential architect who designed numerous traditionally-styled homes and mansions, mostly in Houston, Texas, from the 1920s to 1960s. Early life John F. Staub was born on September ...

Cityscape

Kate Sayen Kirkland, author of ''James A. Baker of Houston, 1857-1941'', said "Typical of the finest homes being constructed in Houston during the 1920s, the houses in Broadacres represent the eclectic style favored by the country house movement prevalent in that era." Stephen Fox, author of ''The Country Houses of John F. Staub'', said that in the 1920s "the entire neighborhood of Broadacres attained a collective identity that emphasized—through the beauty and decorum of individual houses and their systematic integration into a hierarchical landscape order that moved rhythmically measured sequences from the space of each country house, to its garden, to the space of the community, to the space of the planned garden city— the discernment, authority and what ichard L. Bushman, a cultural historiancalled "radiance" of its residents." Fox said that " is the extraordinary collective impact that Broadacres's landscape still exerts that makes it such an instructive example of how elite community was socially constructed in Houston through architecture and landscape architecture during the 1920s."

Education

Broadacres is within the

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and ...

. Zoned schools include Poe Elementary School (located in Boulevard Oaks), Lanier Middle School (located in Neartown), and Lamar High School (located in

Upper Kirby Upper Kirby is a commercial district in Houston, Texas, United States. It is named after Kirby Drive, so indirectly takes its name from John Henry Kirby. Upper Kirby contains many businesses, including restaurants. Upper Kirby is east of the Gre ...

Notable residents

* Renu Khator (Chancellor of the

and President of the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...

) * William P. Hobby (

Lieutenant Governor of Texas The lieutenant governor of Texas is the second-highest executive office in the government of Texas, a state in the U.S. It is the second most powerful post in Texas government because its occupant controls the work of the Texas Senate and control ...

)Milling, T.J.
Tempers, taxes hit the roof/Southampton owners claiming cronyism
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

''. Friday August 23, 1991. A25. Retrieved on November 20, 2012.

Gallery

File:BroadacresPark.JPG, Broadacres Park

References

* Fox, Stephen. Color photography by Richard Cheek. ''The Country Houses of John F. Staub''.

Texas A&M University Press Texas A&M University Press (also known informally as TAMU Press) is a scholarly publishing house associated with Texas A&M University. It was founded in 1974 and is located in College Station, Texas, in the United States. Overview The Texas A& ...

, 2007. 1585445959, 9781585445950. * Kirkland, Kate Sayen. ''James A. Baker of Houston, 1857-1941''.

, September 1, 2012. , 9781603448000.

Notes

External links

Map of Broadacres
from the BOCA deed restrictions * Harris County government block book map for Broadacres
JPG formatPDF format

Wortham House
- Conrad N. Hilton College,

{{National Register of Historic Places Historic districts in Texas Neighborhoods in Houston 1922 establishments in Texas National Register of Historic Places in Texas Colonial Revival architecture in Texas Tudor Revival architecture in the United States Mission Revival architecture in Texas Buildings and structures completed in 1923 Harris County, Texas