Atlee Ayres

Atlee Ayres

Atlee B. Ayres (1873-1969) was a major regional architect of the early to mid-20th century in central Texas. Atlee Bernard Ayres, was born in Hillsboro, Ohio, on July 12, 1873, the son of Nathan Tandy and Mary Parsons Ayres. The family moved to Texas, lived first in Houston, and then moved in 1888 to San Antonio, where Nathan Ayres for many years managed the Alamo Flats, a luxury apartment hotel. In 1890 Ayres went to New York to study at the Metropolitan School of Architecture, a subsidiary of Columbia University. There he won first prize in the school's annual design competition. His teachers included William Ware, a student of Richard Morris Hunt. Ayres took drawing lessons at the Art Students League at night and also studied painting under Frank Vincent Dumont. Upon his graduation in 1894 he returned to San Antonio and worked for various architects. He subsequently moved to Mexico, where he practiced until 1900. That year he moved back to San Antonio and began a partnership with Charles A. Coughlin that lasted until Coughlin's death in 1905. Early in his career in San Antonio, Ayres designed the Halff house (1908) and a villa for Col. George W. Brackenridge (date unknown) that was later was torn down

In 1915 Ayres was made the state architect of Texas, and in 1924, he created a new partnership with his son, Robert M. Ayres. Many of the firm's works are found throughout San Antonio and the surrounding area designed in the tradition of Spanish Colonial Revival style architecture including the Hogg house (1924), the Mannen house (1926), the Newton house (1927), and the Atkinson house (1928) which is now known as the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum. The firm was also adept in using other revival modes, including the Colonial Revival of the H. Lutcher Brown residence (1936) and the English Tudor of the Jesse Oppenheimer residence (1924).

Other commissions include the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Texas State Office Building, and both the Carothers Dormitory and the original Pharmacy Building at the University of Texas at Austin. Ayres drew plans for courthouses in Kingsville, Alice, Refugio, Del Rio, and Brownsville and designed the thirty-story Smith-Young Tower (1929), the Plaza Hotel (1927), and the Federal Reserve Bank Building (1928) . His firm helped design the exterior of the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium (1923) and the Administration Building at Randolph Air Force Base (1931), often referred to as the "Taj Mahal," and remodeled the historic Menger Hotel (1949-53).

Ayres was the author of "Mexican Architecture" (1926) and often made trips to Mexico to gain further inspiration. He was a charter member of the Texas Society of Architects and was one of a group of architects instrumental in securing passage of state legislation in 1937 for the licensing of architects to practice. He married Olive Moss Cox in San Antonio in 1896, and the couple had two sons. After Mrs. Ayres's death in 1937, he married Katherine Cox, in 1940. Ayres was still practicing architecture when he died at the age of ninety-six on November 6, 1969, in San Antonio. He was buried in Mission Burial Park in San Antonio.

References

Carson, Chris & McDonald, William ,eds., "A Guide to San Antonio Architecture". San Antonio Chapter, American Institute of Architects, 1986. ISBN 0961684208 9780961684204.

Stephanie Hetos Cocke, "Atlee B. and Robert M. Ayres," Texas Architect, November-December 1989.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Overland Campaign — Part of the American Civil War Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee , respectively, opposing commanders in the Overland …   Wikipedia

  • Tower Life Building (San Antonio) — The Tower Life Building is a landmark and historic building in San Antonio, Texas.Construction of the tower began in 1927 and the building rises 403 feet (123 meters) and has 30 floors. The building, which opened in 1929 was originally named the… …   Wikipedia

  • List of buildings in Laredo, Texas — Tallest BuildingsHamilton HotelThe Hamilton Hotel was built in 1900 as a three story building. In 1923 an additional 9 floors were constructed. Today, it is the tallest building in Laredo, Texas. It serves as an apartment complex in downtown… …   Wikipedia

  • environment — environmental, adj. environmentally, adv. /en vuy reuhn meuhnt, vuy euhrn /, n. 1. the aggregate of surrounding things, conditions, or influences; surroundings; milieu. 2. Ecol. the air, water, minerals, organisms, and all other external factors… …   Universalium

  • Tele-snaps — (often truncated as Telesnaps) are off screen photographs of British television broadcasts, taken by John Cura before the advent of home video recording. For many early programmes tele snaps are the only surviving record of their appearance. From …   Wikipedia

  • Chris Bell (politician) — Robert Christopher Bell Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas s 25th district In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2005 Preceded by Ken Bentsen, Jr …   Wikipedia

  • Freeman Coliseum — Infobox Stadium stadium name=Freeman Coliseum nickname= location= 3201 East Houston St. San Antonio, Texas 78219 broke ground= November 17, 1947 opened= October 19, 1949 renovated= 1993 expanded= closed= demolished= owner= Bexar County operator=… …   Wikipedia

  • 88th United States Congress — ] House of Representatives =Alabama= *. George Huddleston, Jr. (D) *. George M. Grant (D) *. George W. Andrews (D) *. Kenneth A. Roberts (D) *. Albert Rains (D) *. Armistead I. Selden, Jr. (D) *. Carl Elliott (D) *. Robert E. Jones, Jr.… …   Wikipedia

  • Dewitt C. Greer State Highway Building — 1918 State Office Building and 1933 State Highway Building U.S. National Register of Historic Places …   Wikipedia

  • George Rodney Willis — George Rodney Willis, architect, was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 11, 1879, to Byron and Mary (Rodney) Willis. George was the third of four children. His mother was a descendant of Caesar Rodney, who cast Delaware s vote for the… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”