Get The Binz

On the second Sunday of every month, the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance (GHPA) offers a guided walking tour of an architecturally and/or historically significant neighborhood in Houston. This coming Sunday will see the GHPA leading a tour around The Binz, a neighborhood just to the northeast of the lovely, verdant Museum District.

The Binz was built at the same time as Rice University and originally served as faculty housing for many of the school's professors. Many of its houses date to the early 1910s and 1920s, with some of Houston's foremost early 20th-century architects building their own homes there along Southmore Boulevard. Sadly, only one of the houses from these famous architects still stands: the Maurice Sullivan (who also designed the Great Southwest Life Building and the Villa de Matel Convent) family home on Southmore. Up until a few months ago, two of these architects' houses stood, but the Craftsman-style home of Alfred C. Finn (the architect behind such Houston landmarks as the JP Morgan Chase Bank building, the Rice Hotel and the gorgeous St Paul's Methodist Church) was recently demolished. A vacant lot on San Jacinto Street is all that remains of it today, with future plans for the lot unknown.

Contemporary architecture will also be discussed as the tour passes the offices of current Houston architect John S. Chase, who was the first African-American admitted to the University of Texas School of Architecture and the first to serve on the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts. His firm was responsible for designing the George R. Brown Convention Center and is currently designing the United States Embassy in Tunisia.

Worried about doing a walking tour in the heat? Don't. Tickets go on sale at 5:30 p.m. on the day of the tour at the Clayton Genealogical Library, where the tour will begin promptly at 6:00 p.m. so you can enjoy the walk in the cooling air as dusk settles over the neighborhood. The cost is $10 per person (or $7 for students and GHPA members) with children under 11 admitted for free. For additional information, visit the GHPA website or call 713.216.5000.

The Binz Walking Tour
Sunday, July 13th, 6:00 p.m.
5300 Caroline
713.216.5000

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Photo courtesy of flickr user J-a-x.