DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Autry House — so let's take it straight from the record. Now, there are buildings that stand because somebody needed a place, and then there are buildings that stand because somebody cared enough to reach into their own pocket. Autry House is the second kind.
The year is 1921, and the Episcopal Diocese of Texas has a vision — a student center right there for Rice University. They didn't cut corners on the design, either. They brought in William Ward Watkin, a Houston architect who knew the Rice campus like the back of his hand, and they partnered him with the Boston firm of Cram and Ferguson.
Together, those two outfits rendered the whole thing in the Italian Mediterranean style — the very same style that gave so many of Rice's campus structures their look. So when you walk up to Autry House, it doesn't feel like a stranger on that campus. It feels like it belongs.
But here's the detail that gives the whole story its weight. The house is named for James Lockhart Autry — born in 1859, died in 1920, Texaco general counsel, a man whose name carried real standing in Houston. James Autry never saw this building go up.
He was already gone by the time the first stone was laid. It was his wife, Allie Kinsloe Autry, who donated the funds for its construction. She put her own money behind it, and she made sure the building carried her late husband's name.
One woman's grief, turned into mortar and stone and a gathering place for students — and over a hundred years later, it's still standing on that campus, still in that Italian Mediterranean style, still bearing the name Autry. That's how you make something last.
What the marker says
This house was built in 1921 by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas as a student center for Rice University. It was designed by Houston architect William Ward Watkin and the Boston architectural firm of Cram & Ferguson in the Italian Mediterranean style featured on many Rice University campus structures. The house is named for James Lockhart Autry (1859-1920), Texaco general counsel and husband of Allie Kinsloe Autry who donated funds for its construction. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1994