Skip to main content

Cleveland Sewall house architectural drawings

 Collection
Identifier: MS 0075
Finding aid note: Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of roughly 180 numbered drawings, plus duplicates, on linen, tracing paper, and blueprints of the house located at 3456 Inwood Drive (formerly 3460 Inwood Drive) in the exclusive River Oaks subdivision in Houston, Texas, and designed by Cram & Ferguson with Stayton Nunn. The house was completed in 1926. This collection includes renderings, elevations, floor plans, structural and mechanical details of the house, garage, stable and landscaping. There are also a variety of blueprints, sketches, and designs corresponding to the 1940 remodeling of the studio room. The house is stucco-faced with a Spanish style tile-roof.

Dates

  • 1923 - 1940
  • Majority of material found within 1923 - 1926

Creator

Access Restrictions

This material is open for research.

Conditions Governing Access

Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish from the Cleveland Sewall house architectural drawings must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

Biographical Sketch

Cleveland Sewall and his wife Blanche Harding Sewall built and owned the home at 3456 Inwood Drive (formerly 3460 Inwood Drive) in the River Oaks subdivision in Houston, Texas. The home was completed in 1926. Cleveland Sewall was president of Gordon-Sewall and Company, a wholesale grocery firm. He was a merchant, barrister, banker and civic leader. He served on the Board of Directors for South Texas Commercial National Bank, which later became Texas Commerce, and then Chase Bank of Texas. The house is often associated with Blanche Sewall rather than her husband. She died in 1973 at the age of 84. She was a native of Ft. Worth and a resident of Houston since 1910. She attended Rice University with the class of 1917, but she did not graduate. She was a painter, patron of the arts, philanthropist and founding member of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She donated funds for the construction of Sewall Hall at Rice University as a memorial to her husband.

" Blanche Harding Sewall was so enamored of Ralph Adams Cram's buildings at Rice University that she commissioned him to design this house for her and her husband. Cram worked from Mrs. Sewall's own sketches in designing the stucco-faced, tile-roofed Spanish style house. Interior detail is based on the House of El Greco museum in Toldedo. Mrs. Sewall travelled to Spain with Mildred Stapley and Arthur Byne to acquire artifacts and furniture. Ellen Shipman designed gardens for the small estate in the middle 1930s, but they longer survive. The house was rescued from dereliction and superlatively restored in 1979 by Charles Tapley Associates. Additions are by W. O. Neuhaus Associates (1991)." Fox, Stephen; "Houston Architectural Guide;" The American Institute of Architects/Houston Chapter; Minor Design, Houston; 2012; p. 414.

Extent

69 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract:

This collection consists of roughly 180 numbered drawings, including duplicates, on linen, tracing paper, and blueprints of house located at 3456 Inwood Drive (formerly 3460 Inwood Drive) in the exclusive River Oaks subdivision in Houston, Texas, and designed by Cram & Ferguson with Stayton Nunn. The house was completed in 1926. This collection includes renderings, elevations, floor plans, structural and mechanical details of the house, garage, stable and landscaping. There are also a variety of blueprints, sketches, and designs corresponding to the 1940 remodeling of the studio room. The house is a stucco-faced, tile-roofed Spanish style house.

Subjects

Record Groups

Related Names

Creator

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to the Cleveland Sewall house architectural drawings, 1923-1926, 1940
Status
Completed
Date
2008
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas Repository

https://library.rice.edu/woodson
Contact:
Fondren Library MS-44, Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston Texas 77005 USA

Broaden your search:
Texas Archival Resources Online - statewide search of archival finding aids
ArchiveGrid - international search of archival finding aids
Scholarship.rice.edu - Rice University digital content

Harmful Content Statement
© 2023 Woodson Research Center
Fondren Library, Rice University
Physical Address: 6100 Main, Houston, Texas 77005-1827
Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892