Grossman-Graham House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Grossman-Graham House in Nueces County. Now, every great house has a story, and some houses have two or three stacked right on top of each other like layers of good brisket. This one sits in Corpus Christi's Oak Park subdivision, and it starts with a man named A.

C. Erwin, the owner and developer of that elite little neighborhood. Erwin probably had this house built right around the time Oak Park opened, which was 1929.

He hired a local architect, N. W. Hardy of the firm of Hardy and Curan, to design it.

And Hardy did not mail it in. The man gave this house mission-influenced arched gateways, parapets, stucco finish, a hipped tile roof, arched columned porches. Spanish colonial revival and Mediterranean all the way, with a vegetation-rich landscape that wraps the whole thing into a series of intimate outdoor spaces, which, as any lover of that Mediterranean style will tell you, is a coveted thing.

But a house that fine was not going to sit empty, and in 1931, Ed and Sadie Grossman moved in. They had come a long way. Russian Jewish immigrants, the both of them, who had found their footing in Corpus Christi and planted themselves deep.

Ed was part owner of Grossman Brothers Department Store, The Carmel Corporation, a Corpus Christi shopping center, and a real estate business. The man had range. And he didn't just work.

Ed Grossman was a founder and the first president of Corpus Christi's Temple Beth El. Sadie, for her part, founded several Jewish women's organizations. These were people who built community the way that architect Hardy built houses, with intention and care.

Then, in 1935, Tom and Virginia Graham entered the picture. Tom Graham was a native Texan, the son of a circuit-riding Methodist minister and his wife. He grew up to be president of the Tom Graham Oil Company, and by the 1940s his companies were operating more than two hundred oil and gas wells with production spread across Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Illinois, and Kentucky.

That is not a small operation. Tom and Virginia were active in Corpus Christi civic and social affairs. They were the kind of people a city leans on.

And then 1948 arrived, and with it, a quieter chapter. Tom Graham died of a heart attack in the house. Right there inside those Mediterranean walls.

Virginia Graham held on to the property until 1955, when she sold it. So that house has held an Oak Park developer's vision, a Russian Jewish immigrant family's ambition and faith, and an oil man's Texas dynasty, all wrapped in stucco and tile and arched columned porches, with gardens tucked in close like secrets. Hardy and Curan built it to last.

Turns out, so did the people who lived in it.

What the marker says

A. C. Erwin, owner and developer of Corpus Christi's elite Oak Park subdivision, probably had this house built about the time Oak Park opened in 1929. Designed by local architect N. W. Hardy of the firm of Hardy and Curan, this became the home of Russian Jewish immigrants Ed and Sadie Grossman, who purchased it in 1931. Ed Grossman was part owner of Grossman Brothers Department Store, The Carmel Corporation, a Corpus Christi shopping center, and a real estate business. The Grossmans both were active in Corpus Christi social and religious affairs. Ed Grossman was a founder and the first president of Corpus Christi's Temple Beth El, and Sadie was the founder of several Jewish women's organizations. Tom and Virginia (Deaver) Graham purchased the property from the Grossmans in 1935. A native Texan and the son of a circuit-riding Methodist minister and his wife, Tom Graham was president of the Tom Graham Oil Company. By the 1940s his companies operated more than 200 oil and gas wells with production in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Illinois and Kentucky. The Grahams also were active in Corpus Christi civic and social affairs. Tom Graham died of a heart attack in the house in 1948; Virginia Graham sold the property in 1955. The house boasts mission-influenced arched gateways and parapets, but the structure most markedly exhibits quintessential Spanish colonial revival and Mediterranean features, including the stucco finish, hipped tile roof and arched columned porches. The house and vegetation-rich landscape are integrated to create several intimate exterior spaces, which is a coveted attribute of the Mediterranean style. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1999