Dr. Penn B. and Annie A. Thornton House
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Erected in 1905 for Houston Heights doctor and businessman Penn Thornton (1866-1927) and his wife Annie (Amsler) (1872-1947), who was active in Heights social and civic organizations, this house is representative of the housing stock in Houston Heights during the early 20th century. Simple form and fine detailing such as the asymmetrical front porch and classical columns make the house a good example of the colonial revival style. Penn B. Thornton, Jr.and other family members occupied the house until his death in 1978. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1998
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
As Houston Heights took shape in the early 1900s, a streetcar suburb of tidy lots north of downtown, Dr. Penn Thornton built this colonial-revival home in 1905. A physician and businessman, he and his wife Annie—active in the neighborhood's social and civic life—raised a family here, and Thornton descendants kept the house until 1978. Its asymmetrical porch and classical columns make it a fine surviving example of the modest, well-detailed housing that filled the young Heights.
Why it matters
The house preserves the everyday architectural fabric of one of Houston's first planned suburbs, showing how a growing Southern city housed its rising professional class at the turn of the twentieth century.
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Related people
- · Penn B. Thornton
- · Annie Amsler Thornton
Themes & tags
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