DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. Out in El Paso, there stands a house with fluted columns and a portico that catches the eye before you've even slowed down — and the story behind it has a little bit of everything Texas tends to favor: ambition, loss, and a family that held on tight for the better part of a century. The house belongs, by name and by history, to Richard Fenner Burges.
Prominent attorney, civic leader, man of the legislature — and he had this place built in 1912, put up by a local contractor named J. E. Morgan.
Now, tragedy arrived early at this address. Burges's wife, Ethel Petrie Shelton, died during the home's very construction. The walls were still going up.
That's the kind of grief a house absorbs and never quite lets go of. Burges himself went on to serve as city attorney and as a member of the State legislature, carrying that weight alongside a public life that kept him right at the center of El Paso's affairs. Then, in 1927, the house was altered — redesigned according to the plans of architect Otto H.
Thorman — and what emerged from that work is the appearance you see today: classical design elements, that handsome portico, those fluted columns standing at attention like they've got something to prove. After Richard Fenner Burges died in 1945, the house passed to his daughter, and the family kept hold of it all the way until 1986. More than seven decades in one family's hands.
Some houses are just buildings. This one kept its people close. And those columns are still standing to tell you so.
What the marker says
Prominent El Paso attorney Richard Fenner Burges (1873-1945) had this house built in 1912 by local contractor J. E. Morgan. It was altered in 1927 according to plans of architect Otto H. Thorman, resulting in its current appearance featuring classical design elements, including a portico with fluted columns. Burges, whose wife, Ethel Petrie Shelton, died during the home's construction, was an active civic leader, serving as city attorney and member of the State legislature. The house was inherited by his daughter and remained in the family until 1986. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1993