HistoricSiteMarkers
Postwar & Contemporary

Max Faget House and Workshop

Dickinson, Galveston County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Architect Herbert Hudler Jr. designed this home in 1962 for NASA engineer Maxime Allan Faget (1921-2004) and his wife, Nancy, based on Faget's conceptual drawings. The modified rectangular plan is faced in buff brick, and the house is oriented to the nearby Dickinson Bayou. In 1946, Max Faget began working for NASA's forerunner, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). He helped design Mercury, Gemini and Apollo spacecraft, and developed the design for a reusable spacecraft (Space Shuttle) in his garage workshop in 1969. He often built balsa wood models of his designs to test in his workshop and on his property. Faget retired in 1981 and is remembered as one of the essential engineers who led the U.S. into space. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2020

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

This 1962 home, designed for NASA engineer Maxime 'Max' Faget (1921–2004) from his own conceptual sketches, sits beside Dickinson Bayou. Faget began with NASA's forerunner in 1946 and went on to help design the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft—and in his garage workshop in 1969 he developed the concept for a reusable Space Shuttle, testing balsa-wood models on his own property. He retired in 1981 as one of the essential engineers who carried the United States into space.

Why it matters

Faget's home and workshop tie the grand story of American spaceflight to the ordinary garage where key ideas actually took shape.

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Related people

  • · Maxime Allan Faget
  • · Herbert Hudler Jr.

Related events

  • · Mercury program
  • · Gemini program
  • · Apollo program
  • · Space Shuttle

Themes & tags

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