DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just along for the ride. Now, some houses get built because somebody needed a roof over their head. And then there are houses that get thought about — really thought about — before a single stone gets laid.
The Edmund and Emily Miller House, sitting up in Travis County, is that second kind. Edmund T. Miller was a noted economist and University of Texas professor, a man born in 1878 who spent his life wrestling with big ideas.
His wife Emily, born in 1884, was something else again — an artist, and a member of the pioneer Maverick family of San Antonio, which is about as deep a set of Texas roots as you're going to find. They acquired this property together in 1922, and right away the question wasn't just where to build — it was how. Emily Miller didn't hand that question off to somebody else.
She took it on herself, bringing in her nephew Edward Sammons Maverick and an architecture professor named Raymond Everett, and together the three of them designed a Mediterranean style home built to complement the hillside setting. That's not a small thing. Most folks flatten a hill.
These folks listened to it. The house was completed in 1923, and when you look at it, you see the touch of metal craftsman Fortunat Weigl woven through the details. And all these years on, it still retains many of its original landscaping features — the hill, the house, and the vision pretty much intact.
Emily Miller lived to 1979. She had a long time to watch what she'd made hold its ground, and from the looks of it, the house intends to keep doing just that.
What the marker says
Noted economist and University of Texas professor Edmund T. Miller (1878-1952) and his wife, Emily (1884-1979), an artist and member of the pioneer Maverick family of San Antonio, acquired this property in 1922. The design for their Mediterranean style home was the work of Emily Miller, her nephew Edward Sammons Maverick, and architecture professor Raymond Everett. Built to complement the hillside setting and completed in 1923, the house features the work of metal craftsman Fortunat Weigl and retains many of its original landscaping features. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2001