Courtlandt Place

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just along for the ride. Way back in 1907, somebody took a piece of land in Houston and drew some lines on a map. What they platted that day became Courtlandt Place, a private neighborhood built for Houston's elite, sitting on fifteen point four seven acres of some of the finest real estate in the city.

Now before any of those grand homes went up, before any architect ever sharpened a pencil, that land had a keeper. Her name was Mrs. Obedience Smith, an area pioneer, and I will say this, that is a name that commands attention all on its own.

The land was once hers, and whatever she thought of what came after, history doesn't say. What history does say is that Courtlandt Place became a showcase. Not just nice houses, mind you.

We're talkin' homes designed by some of the most prominent Texas architects of the early twentieth century. Birdsall P. Briscoe.

Alfred Finn. John Staub. Sanguinet and Staats.

Olle J. Lorehn. You put names like that on a streetscape, and the neighborhood tends to hold its head high for a good long while.

And it has. In 1980, Courtlandt Place was listed in the National Register of Historic Places, which means that stretch of fifteen point four seven acres, platted on land that once belonged to Mrs. Obedience Smith, earned a kind of permanence that most neighborhoods only dream about.

Some places just insist on lasting.

What the marker says

Platted in 1907 on land once owned by area pioneer Mrs. Obedience Smith, Courtlandt Place was established as a private neighborhood for Houston's elite. Encompassing 15.47 acres of land, it is a showcase of impressive homes designed by some of the most prominent Texas architects of the early twentieth century, including Birdsall P. Briscoe, Alfred Finn, John Staub, Sanguinet * Staats, and Olle J. Lorehn. The Courtlandt Place neighborhood was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.