M. E. and Estela Garcia House
Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas
Marker Inscription
BUILT IN 1960-61 IN THE SOUTHERN COLONIAL ARCHITECTURAL STYLE, THIS HOUSE WAS BUILT FOR THE ESTELA CUETO (1914-1984) AND MARTIN ENRIQUE (M.E.) (1911-1976) GARCÍA FAMILY, MERCHANTS AND RANCHERS IN SOUTH TEXAS. EDWARD J. ROMIENIEC & ASSOCIATES DESIGNED THE HOUSE WITH A “FICTION OF AGE,” INCORPORATING MATERIAL SALVAGED FROM THE c. 1854 HOME OF M.E. GARCÍA’S MATERNAL GRANDFATHER, DON FRANCISCO YTURRIA, INCLUDING DOORS, FLOORBOARDS, AND FOUR GROUND-FLOOR WINDOWS. OTHER FEATURES INCLUDE A DOUBLE-HEIGHT TUSCAN PORTICO FRONTING A CENTRAL, TWO-STORY, SIDE-GABLE-ROOFED BLOCK WITH ONE STORY WINGS, ALL OF FRAME CONSTRUCTION WITH A RED BRICK VENEER. (2018)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1960-61 for the merchant and ranching family of M. E. and Estela Garcia, this Southern Colonial home was designed with a deliberate "fiction of age." Its architects wove in doors, floorboards, and windows salvaged from the c. 1854 house of M. E. Garcia's grandfather, the prominent South Texas figure Don Francisco Yturria, joining a grand Tuscan portico to fragments of a far older world.
Why it matters
A mid-century home stitched from the timbers of an 1850s house shows how prominent South Texas families kept their long ranching lineage physically present in a modern age.
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Related people
- · M. E. Garcia
- · Estela Cueto Garcia
- · Francisco Yturria
Themes & tags
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