W. T. Carter, Jr., House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the W. T. Carter, Jr.

House. Now settle in, because this one's got architects, airports, lumber money, and a porch wide enough to make you forget your troubles. In 1912, two architects named Birdsall Briscoe and Olle Lorehn sat down and designed a home.

Not just any home. A two-story Prairie Style house with a hipped terra cotta tiled roof, dormers peeking out up top, stucco veneer wrapping the whole thing, and a wide full-width porch that stretches all the way across the front and keeps on going, extending out to cover a porte-cochere. That is a house that means business.

Out at the curb, two carriage hitching posts still stand, and around back, a two-story garage. Every last one of those details, the marker tells us, is historic. They built it for W.

T. Carter, Jr., born in 1887, and his wife Lillie Auguste Neuhaus Carter, born in 1890. Now W.

T. was not a man who sat still. He was prominent in lumber and real estate, which in early Houston was about as solid a foundation as a man could stand on. But he didn't stop there.

He served on the Houston Port Commission. He served on City Council. And then, well, then comes the line that really lands.

W. T. Carter, Jr. developed Houston's first public airport.

That airport, the marker tells us, would later become William P. Hobby Airport. The Carter family held onto that house, that glorious Prairie Style porch and all, until 1978.

Lillie had passed in 1966, W. T. back in 1957. But the house stood, as houses built with that kind of intention tend to do.

From carriage hitching posts out front to a legacy written in lumber, real estate, and runways, the Carter name left its mark on Houston in more ways than one.

What the marker says

W. T. CARTER, JR. HOUSE IN 1912, ARCHITECTS BIRDSALL BRISCOE AND OLLE LOREHN DESIGNED THIS HOME FOR W. T. CARTER, JR., (1887-1957) AND LILLIE AUGUSTE (NEUHAUS) CARTER (1890-1966). THE TWO-STORY PRAIRIE STYLE HOUSE HAS A HIPPED TERRA COTTA TILED ROOF WITH DORMERS, STUCCO VENEER, AND A WIDE FULL-WIDTH PORCH WHICH EXTENDS TO COVER A PORTE-COCHERE. A TWO-STORY GARAGE AND TWO CARRIAGE HITCHING POSTS AT THE FRONT CURB ARE ALSO HISTORIC. W. T., PROMINENT IN LUMBER AND REAL ESTATE, ALSO SERVED ON THE HOUSTON PORT COMMISSION AND CITY COUNCIL AND DEVELOPED HOUSTON'S FIRST PUBLIC AIRPORT (LATER WILLIAM P. HOBBY AIRPORT). THE CARTER FAMILY OWNED THE HOUSE UNTIL 1978. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK - 2011