Walter and Mae Simms House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Walter and Mae Simms House in Travis County. Now settle in, because this one's got layers, just like the house itself. Austin architect Roger Q.

Small designed this place in 1935, and he built it for Walter and Mae Simms. Mae came from the Moore family, and together she and Walter had done something worth remembering long before they ever hired an architect. Back in 1915, they established Simms Fish Market, and for nearly forty years they were hauling Gulf Coast seafood to hotels and restaurants all across Central Texas.

Think about that. Fresh seafood, delivered, to the heart of Texas, decade after decade. That is a business built on grit and logistics.

So by the time 1935 rolled around, the Simmses had earned themselves a proper home. And Roger Q. Small gave them one.

The style is simplified Classical Revival, set into a sloping lot on a side-gabled rectangular plan, with butler brick walls and large multi-light windows. Now here is where the story gets interesting. Below the house, framed in rough-cut limestone, sits an integrated five-bay garage.

Five bays, built right into the main structure of the house. Not bolted on after the fact, not tucked out back. Part of the plan from the beginning.

That might not sound like a tall tale, but consider this: that kind of design, folding the garage into the house itself, did not become common until after World War II. The Simmses and Roger Q. Small were ahead of the curve, right there in 1935, already nodding to the rising influence of automobiles on architecture and urban planning in the early twentieth century.

Walter and Mae spent nearly forty years feeding Central Texas out of the Gulf Coast. Turns out, they also built a home that was feeding the future.

What the marker says

Austin architect Roger Q. Small designed this unique 1935 home for Walter and Mae (Moore) Simms, who established Simms Fish market in 1915 and delivered Gulf Coast seafood to hotels and restaurants throughout Central Texas for nearly forty years. The simplified Classical Revival style house is a side-gabled rectangular plan residence into a sloping lot, with butler brick walls and large multi-light windows. Below the house is an integrated five-bay garage, framed by a rough-cut limestone façade. This incorporation of a garage into the house’s main structure did not become common until after World War II, reflecting the rising influence of automobiles on architecture and urban planning during the early 20th century. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark – 2008