Photos by Tony C. Lehmann
George Kraigher was a pilot for Pan American Airways in the 1930s. When Mr. Kraigher moved to Brownsville, he had the famous modern architect, Richard Neutra (who was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, the father of Modern Architecture) design his house at 525 Paredes Line Rd, [Near Lindale] which at the time was at the outskirts of Brownsville city limits. What Mr. Neutra created was the first International Style house in Brownsville and, in fact, in the state of Texas. The house may have even have been the first International Style outside of California, where the style first appeared! The two-story house sported large wrap around windows instead of brick for walls. It is not large but feels large inside because of the very large windows that go from the floor to the ceiling. There were literally no covered walls, just glass. Also, contrary to the Spanish-Colonial Style being used in Brownsville in this era, this house did not have any kind of ornamentation that decorated most of the buildings and houses in Brownsville. This house was a radical departure from anything thing before in this area and in the US (other than California).
Today, it sits quietly in what can now be called the center part of Brownsville as it no longer lies outside the city limits as it once did. There is a Bigo’s Restaurant, several medical office buildings around it and is situated very close to the Expressway 77/83. In fact, it sits way into the lot that as you pass by on Paredes Line Rd (between Price Rd & Boca Chica Blvd) that you may mistake it for an abandoned, crumbling house with no glass windows but instead of glass, the house now is boarded up with plywood. The former, radically different, state of the art, modernist style is now gone replaced by a sagging, hole infested roof, which is now covered by a very large blue tarp, with no windows and the interior rotting from the lack maintenance from decades of abandonment.
But there is good news to report. Last night (11/15/05) I went to the City meeting where one of the issues was to agree on signing an agreement with UTB/TSC, which Mr. Goodman (Director of the Downtown District) states UTB/TSC “shall stabilize the structure as soon as reasonably practical” and also that the lease will not go into effect until January 2006. In any case, this is still very good news considering that UTB/TSC has beautifully restored the Alonso Building (c. 1890) and the Andres Cueto Building (1893). TSC has even renovated and restored the campus historical buildings such as the Gorgas Hall (1868), Champion Building (1868), the Regiment House (1868), the Cavalry Building (1868), and the Old Morgue (1868-72) to name a few. TSC has a good history of restoring historical homes and buildings. The Kraigher House should be in very good hands with TSC.
TSC has plans that include turning the Kraigher House into a home for a future architecture program. This is truly a win-win situation for the City, which did not have funds to renovate it, TSC, and the city of Brownsville, which gets to have one of the few rare examples of a Neutra designed house outside of California. I congratulate the City and TSC for this endeavor. This building is sure to attract many Neutra aficionados to our city as well as other tourists and locals. I can’t wait to see this house once it’s been completed. I’ve taken the before pictures. Now I’m just missing the after pictures. If all goes well, the stabilization of the structure should happen sometime next year.
Tony Lehmann