DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the Texas Historical Commission put down on the marker for the Hugo Victor Neuhaus, Jr. House in Harris County. Now, some houses just sit there.
They hold furniture, they keep the rain off, and they mind their own business. But every once in a while, a man builds a house that is really an argument — a declaration, set in brick and glass, about how life ought to be lived. This is the story of one of those houses.
Hugo Victor Neuhaus, Jr. was born in Houston in 1915, which means he was a Texas boy through and through, even when the world was pulling him somewhere else. And it did pull him — all the way to Yale University, where he graduated in 1938, and then on to the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. Now, Harvard in those years was not your ordinary finishing school for architects.
The faculty included Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer — noted European modernists who had crossed the Atlantic carrying a whole new philosophy of space and form wrapped up in their luggage. Young Neuhaus sat in those rooms and absorbed it all. He graduated in 1941, and then the United States Army Air Force had a few years of his time before Houston got him back.
He returned home, married Mary Wood Farish, widow of his cousin William Stamps Farish, Jr., and set about building a career. He joined the office of C. Herbert Cowell, and by 1949 he was a partner there — a partnership that would last until the firm dissolved in 1962.
But here is where the story gets interesting, as good stories tend to do. In those early years with Cowell, Neuhaus became the local associate architect to a man named Philip Johnson — a renowned designer with strong ties to Mies van der Rohe, who was nothing less than a preeminent innovator of the International style. So think about that chain of influence.
Gropius and Breuer at Harvard, then Johnson, then van der Rohe hovering over all of it like a ghost with a drafting pencil. Hugo Neuhaus was standing at the confluence of some of the most powerful ideas in twentieth-century architecture. And in 1950, he decided to make his argument.
He designed a house for himself. The Neuhaus House has what the marker calls a strong horizontal emphasis — it hugs the earth rather than reaching for the sky, the way the International style tends to do. Planes of solid brick meet walls of glass, and those large windows do something almost magical: they dissolve the boundary between inside and out.
The indoor rooms share visual space with a plunge pool and terraced outdoor living areas, all of it designed in collaboration with Houston landscape architect C.C. Pat Fleming. Private space and public space, living space and landscape — all of it integrated, all of it intentional.
Now, a man can study the great modernists, partner with Philip Johnson, and still produce something forgettable. That happens. But the Neuhaus House was frequently represented as a shining example of Houston's modern architecture.
One of several celebrated Neuhaus designs, this one kept showing up as the example, the proof, the house you pointed to when you wanted to show what Houston was capable of in that era. Hugo Victor Neuhaus, Jr. lived from 1915 to 1987. The Texas Historical Commission placed this marker in 2005.
And the house he built for himself — the argument he made in brick and glass and open sky — that legacy, they say, continues today. A Houston boy went out into the world, learned from the masters, came home, and built something that made the city proud. That's not a tall tale.
That's just the truth, and sometimes the truth is tall enough.
What the marker says
A significant example of the International style of architecture, the 1950 Neuhaus House has a strong horizontal emphasis and expression of private and public space, as well as an integration of living space and landscape. Architect and Houston native Hugo Victor Neuhaus, Jr. (1915-1987) designed the home for himself. He graduated from Yale University in 1938 and then attended the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, where the faculty included noted European modernists Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. Following graduation in 1941, Neuhaus served in the U.S. Army Air Force, and he returned to Houston and wed Mary Wood Farish, widow of his cousin William Stamps Farish, Jr. Neuhaus joined the office of C. Herbert Cowell where he partnered from 1949 until the firm dissolved in 1962. During his early years with Cowell, he became the local associate architect to renowned designer Philip Johnson, who had strong ties to Mies van der Rohe, a preeminent innovator of the International style. Neuhaus' design for his own home shows a strong reflection of the modern styles he was exposed to at Harvard and to the work of van der Rohe. The house features planes of solid brick and glass walls. Through the large windows, the indoor rooms share visual space with a plunge pool and terraced outdoor living areas, designed in collaboration with Houston landscape architect C.C. "Pat" Fleming. The Neuhaus home, one of several celebrated Neuhaus designs, was frequently represented as a shining example of Houston's modern architecture, a legacy that continues today. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2005