Breustedt – Logan House built 1910, in 1984

In 1984, we purchased a wonderful Greek Revival style house which had been designed and build in 1910 by Atlee B. Ayers.  Ayers was a noted early Texas architect.  He was responsible for several historic homes and buildings mainly in downtown San Antonio and the King William area.  Ayers was also a relative of the Walter Breustedt family, of Seguin, Texas who had this home constructed. 

The house contained well over 6,000 SF of living area, on three levels plus a basement .  This style is noted for its symmetrical design.  Towering columns fronted porches on three levels. The 3rd floor porch railing had been removed prior to 1984 – one of many things restored.

When purchased from the Breustedt family estate, the house was virtually unchanged from the time of its construction.  The photo, above, is one I took in 1984 before restoration was begun.

After finding the original architectural plans, hidden away in the attic, I set about modernizing the house while preserving the 1910 look and feel of the home.  That story is a whole book in it’s self.

Since the revival of the house and stable, barn and carriage house, the house has been featured on PBS TV, as well as on Home and Garden Television’s “Restore America” show in 2000.  Below, is the camera man filming the exterior for that show.

After completely remodeling the house in 1986, we signed a contract with Horton Foote‘s (Oscar-and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright) Guadalupe Production Company.  Our home was to be the scene of the principal film location for two of the three films he called, “The Texas Trilogy”.  The TRILOGY was basically a prequel to the film, “The Trip to Bountiful”, for which Horton had been nominated for an Academy Award.

Lillian Foote (Horton’s wife) and Horton’s daughter, Hallie, seemed to be such sincere people.  So, I was very surprised that at the very last moment and despite our signed contract, Lillian who was in charge of the Production Company choose a different location.  She decided that our house was not consistent with the house in Waxahachie, Texas that was used in the earlier “On Valentine’s Day.”  The shooting location for the remaining two parts of the Trilogy was changed to Mississippi (over Horton’s objections, I was told).

I’m sorry that I did not know at that time later, my Mom told me that Horton was a distant cousin of mine,  His given name was for my mother’s Horton family which might have been a tiny bit of leverage in the negotiations.

Later, we sold our home to move to the outskirts of town.  But, unfortunately, the veterinarian that we sold “Tara” to had a “suspicious fire” which heavily damaged the home, during his bitter divorce.  The house has been restored a second time (not up to the Ayers level but, nicely).  The house was back on the market in 2009 at a greatly reduced price (see images below).

Home and Garden Television’s “Restore America” show filming in 2000

Tower Life Building San Antonio – Atlee Ayers also designed this eight sided, neo-gothic brick and terra-cotta tower (complete with gargoyles) in 1927.  This is my favorite commercial building in San Antonio.

Hope you enjoyed this bit of personal trivia.