Laguna Gloria
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This Mediterranean style villa was built in 1916 for Henry H. and Clara Driscoll Sevier. Named Laguna Gloria for a nearby lagoon off the Colorado River, the stuccoed home features a decorative window at San Jose Mission in San Antonio. In 1943 the site was conveyed to the Texas Fine Arts Assoc. by Clara Driscoll, best known for her efforts to pereserve the Alamo. Her homesite is now owned by Laguna Gloria Art Museum. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1983
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Laguna Gloria is a Mediterranean-style villa built in 1916 for Henry and Clara Driscoll Sevier on a lagoon off the Colorado River, complete with a decorative window modeled on San Antonio's San José Mission. Its greater fame flows from Clara Driscoll, the philanthropist celebrated as the "Savior of the Alamo" for her efforts to preserve that shrine, who in 1943 gave the property to the Texas Fine Arts Association. Her lakeside home became an art museum, extending her legacy of cultural stewardship.
Why it matters
The villa memorializes Clara Driscoll, whose preservation of the Alamo and gift of this estate mark the outsized role of women in shaping Texas's historical memory and cultural institutions.
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Related people
- · Clara Driscoll
- · Henry H. Sevier
Themes & tags
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