W.W. Turney House
(El Paso Museum of Art)
El Paso, Texas
Research Packet and
Narrative by:
Jesse Clark
Dr. George D. Torok
Honors Project
Spring 2003
National Endowment for the
Humanities Historical Markers Project
Historical Narrative: W.W.
Turney House (International Museum of Art)
The
building housing the International Museum of Art at 1211 Montana
Avenue, formerly the residence of Senator Walter W. Turney
(1861-1939), is one of the most historic homes in El Paso. It was
designed by architect Henry C. Trost (1860-1933) , it occupies an
entire city block, and represents the largest and one of the most
elaborate homes built by Trost in El Paso.
The
building was constructed between 1906-09 at a cost of more than 50,000
dollars by James T. Hewitt and Henry T. Ponsford. It was to be the
residence of Walter Ward Turney, a prominent El Paso attorney,
rancher, and politician in the early decades of the 20th
century. Turney was born in Marshall, Texas in 1861. He attended Sam
Houston State Teachers’ College and moved to Fort Davis to teach
school. While teaching, he studied for the bar and became an attorney
in 1887. Shortly after that he entered politics. He became the first
Brewster County attorney, served as a member of the state’s House of
Representatives, and became a State Senator during the 1890s. Turney
supported legislation that helped the state’s cattle industry and
developed a large family ranch with more than 200,000 acres and 18,000
head of cattle. After 1902, Turney and his family resided in El Paso.
He remained active in ranching and twice served as the president of
the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers’ Association. From 1902
until 1939, Turney was a prominent El Paso attorney.
In 1906, Turney commissioned El Paso architect Henry
C. Trost to design a private residence. Trost was the principle designer
for the architectural firm Trost and Trost. He arrived in El Paso in
1903 and during the next thirty years he developed some of the region’s
most striking and unique buildings. Trost was greatly influenced by
Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright and mastered a wide variety of
popular building styles. He was also a pioneer in the use of reinforced
concrete. He designed more than 650 buildings in the southwestern United
States and northern Mexico, 200 of them in El Paso, during his career.
Trost designed a conservative “classical revival”
style home featuring a massive portico and majestic Corinthian columns.
It has two stories, an attic, and is surrounded by spacious grounds.
The inside features leaded and stained glass and a large fireplace with
a carved mantel. It was of cream color brick on a white marble base and
the exterior appearance has often been compared to the White House. The
interior continued the classical theme with a plaster frieze and Ionic
columns. The Turney House became the site of many extravagant
celebrations in the 1920s and 1930s.
When Senator Turney died in 1939 the mansion was taken over by the city
and in 1947 it became the site for the International Museum of Art which
had been chartered in 1930. It featured exhibitions, performances, and
literary events.
In 1958 the city was offered part of the Samuel H.
Kress art collection and plans for a new museum were made. In 1960 the
Turney House became the El Paso Museum of Art. The structure was
remodeled by Carroll and Dacuble Associates. (Dacuble had been employed
by the Trost firm in the 1930s). The two side porticos were removed and
two large wings were built on each side of the building. The veranda was
glassed, several interior walls were removed, and exhibition space was
created. Although the interior has undergone several renovations, many
of the original details remain intact.
The exterior of the Turney House remains a fine example of classical
architecture.
.
Harriot Howze Jones, “Heritage Homes of El Paso,” Password 18
(Sum. 1973), 75.
.
(El Paso, TX) Times, Mar. 24, 1939.
.Lloyd
C. and June Marie F. Englebrecht, Henry C. Trost: Architect of
the Southwest (El Paso, TX 1981), 31-35.
.
Englebrecht and Englebrecht, Henry C. Trost, 39; Jones,
“Heritage Homes of El Paso,” 75.
.
Jones, “Heritage Homes of El Paso,” 76-7.
.
Harriot Howze Jones, “Heritage Homes of El Paso,” Password 18
(Sum. 1973), 75.
.
(El Paso, TX) Times, Mar. 24, 1939.
.Lloyd
C. and June Marie F. Englebrecht, Henry C. Trost: Architect of the
Southwest (El Paso, TX 1981), 31-35.
.
Englebrecht and Englebrecht, Henry C. Trost, 39; Jones, “Heritage
Homes of El Paso,” 75.
.
Jones, “Heritage Homes of El Paso,” 76-7.
