Bryan-Chapman House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the Bryan-Chapman House on Courtlandt Place in Houston. Now settle in, because this one starts with a vision. Two sisters, Caroline Bryan Chapman and Johnelle Bryan, looked around Houston in the early 1920s and decided they wanted something thoroughly modern.

Not just nice. Modern. So in 1925, they had a house built, and what a house it turned out to be.

Caroline, born in 1859, and Johnelle, born in 1861, were not just any Houston residents. They were leaders in the city's arts community, and when women like that commission a home, they do not go halfway. The place was a showplace, the marker says, and that word is doing real work.

Mediterranean influences all through it: arched windows, multi-light doors, a Ludowici tile roof, and balconets. Say it out loud. Balconets.

That's a home announcing itself. Now, here's where the story gets a little bittersweet. The sisters enjoyed their Courtlandt Place home for less than a decade.

Less than a decade. After all that vision, all that planning, all those arched windows catching the Houston light. In 1935, the house was purchased by oilman Joseph F.

Bashara, and his family remained there until 1980. Decades of one family in a house built for two sisters who hardly had time to settle in. But there's a footnote to this story, and it's a good one.

A supplemental plate added in 2010 tells us the house was designed by a twenty-six-year-old Texas architect named Carlos B. Schoeppl, born in 1898. Twenty-six years old when he put those arched windows and that Ludowici tile roof down on paper.

He later moved to Florida, where he had, the marker says, a distinguished career. Born in 1898, died in 1990. The Bryan-Chapman House was one of his early statements to the world, and it's still standing on Courtlandt Place to say so.

What the marker says

Envisioning a thoroughly modern home for themselves, sisters and Houston arts community leaders Caroline Bryan Chapman (1859-1933) and Johnelle Bryan (1861-1935) had this house constructed in 1925. The home was a showplace of strong Mediterranean influences such as arched windows, multi-light doors, a Ludowici tile roof, and balconets. The sisters enjoyed their Courtlandt Place home for less than a decade. It was purchased in 1935 by Oilman Joseph F. Bashara, whose family remained in the house until 1980. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1998 SUPPLEMENTAL PLATE (2010): This home was designed by 26-year-old Texas architect Carlos B. Schoeppl (1898-1990). He later moved to Florida where he had a distinguished career.