DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Davis-Sibley House. Now, some houses are just four walls and a roof. And then there are houses that carry a whole history inside them — and this one in Austin is that second kind.
Back in 1931, a man named Hal Thomson — an Austin architect — sat down and drew up something special. He was designing a home for a woman named Emma Levison Davis. Emma was no ordinary Austin resident.
She was a founding member of the settlement club, and she was the widow of Nelson Davis, a pioneer Austin grocer. So this wasn't just any commission — this was a home built for someone with deep roots in the city around it. And Thomson delivered.
What he gave her was a Spanish eclectic style house — a cross gable floor plan wrapped in stucco-finished exterior walls, with a front elevation arcade that greets you before you even reach the door, and a square tower rising up above a clay tile roof. It's the kind of place that makes you stop and look twice. Inside, the craftsmanship doesn't let up.
Handmade tile. Heavy timber flooring and trusses. Ironwork by a man named Fortunat Weigl.
And furnishings and finishes brought in by New York City decorator Pierre Dutel. Emma lived in that house, surrounded by all of it, until her death in 1954. Then the home passed to her son, Theodore Davis.
He carried it forward until 1962, when D. J. and Jane Sibley purchased the property — and their name joined Davis's on the door of history. One house, one architect, a grocer's widow, ironwork, handmade tile, and a New York decorator.
Austin has always had a way of doing things with a little more intention than strictly necessary — and the Davis-Sibley House is proof of that.
What the marker says
Austin architect Hal Thomson designed this 1931 home for Emma Levison Davis. She was a founding member of the settlement club and the widow of pioneer Austin Grocer Nelson Davis. The home passed to the Davis’ son, Theodore, upon Emma’s 1954 death; D. J. and Jane Sibley purchased the home in 1962. The Spanish eclectic style house features a cross gable floor plan with stucco-finished exterior walls, a front elevation arcade and a square tower above a clay tile roof. Historic materials include handmade tile, heavy timber flooring and trusses, ironwork by fortunat weigl and furnishings and finishes by New York City decorator Pierre Dutel.