By Angelina Olive
El Paso, a city deserving of praise from residents and visitors alike, has proven to excel in the architectural design department. The buildings that adorn the Sun City’s broad streets signify the community’s deep connection to its culture, showcasing an impressive range of styles from varying architectural eras. From the ornate Art Deco facade of the Plaza Theatre to the beautiful Spanish Colonial Revival design of the El Paso County Courthouse, anyone able to stroll through the city’s downtown area should consider themselves spoiled.
However, El Paso offers more than just its most famous public buildings. Suppose we ventured through the historic neighborhoods of El Paso. We would be impressed with how intricately designed homes combine to create unique and harmonious urban landscapes. With striking neighborhood structures, it’s impossible not to become curious about the faces behind these designs.
The work of Otto H. Thorman and W.G. Wuehrmann, two of the most prominent architects in El Paso during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is a testament to the city’s rich cultural heritage and commitment to preserving its architectural legacy.
Thorman, beginning his career at only 19, hailed from Missouri and acquired his architectural degree through correspondence. He established an office in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and, in 1911, opened his firm in El Paso, designing more than 1,500 buildings in the Sun City in many different styles. He designed houses in El Paso’s Manhattan Heights neighborhood and several buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places, including the Woman’s Club of El Paso and Goddard Hall at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. He died in El Paso in 1966.
Wuehrmann graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago and Chicago’s Armour Institute, continuing his studies in England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, and Belgium. He settled in El Paso in 1919 and partnered with Scott Lehmann until 1924. Wuehrmann is responsible for such buildings as the Army Y.M.C.A., the Union High School in Las Cruces, and the stunning First Baptist Church at the corner of Montana and Virginia. Wuehrmann also designed the El Paso Electric Company Building at Mills and Kansas, among other notable structures. His architectural career in El Paso spanned 51 years, outdoing Thorman’s meager 49 years, and he reigns as the borderland’s longest-running architect. He passed away in 1978 in his adopted hometown of El Paso.
Wuehrmann’s and Thorman’s work blends various architectural styles, including Spanish Revival, Mission Revival, and Pueblo Revival. Their home designs reflect the region’s diverse culture and history, which includes influences from Mexico, Spain, and Native American cultures.
One of El Paso’s proudest architectural works is the Burges House, located in the Sunset Heights neighborhood of El Paso. The Burges House, commissioned by Richard Fenner Burges, a respected El Paso attorney, and designed by Thorman, was completed in 1912. Burges, born in 1873 in Seguin, Texas, was the son of William H. Burges, Sr., attorney, and Bettie Rust, who died six days after Burges’ birth. Thus, his father, grandmother, and Aunt Nannie raised him. Burges, privately tutored until the 8th grade, when he began studying with a German professor, attended the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas for a year, excelling in rhetoric and oration. He married Ethel Petri Shelton in 1898 and died in 1945. His daughter donated his home at 603 West Yandell to the El Paso County Historical Society in 1986.
The Burges House exemplifies the Classical Revival style, with elements of Pueblo Revival and Arts and Crafts styles. Thorman incorporated aspects of the Arts and Crafts style, with handcrafted woodwork, decorative tile, and built-in cabinetry, as in the house’s large living room, with a beamed ceiling, a fireplace with a decorative tile surround, and numerous built-in cabinets and bookcases. Thorman also featured modernist elements by accenting clean lines, simple shapes, and a lack of ornamentation in some areas of the house’s exterior, characterized by a simple, symmetrical design with a flat roof and minimal decoration.
Image caption: Richard Fenner Burges (Courtesy of El Paso County Historical Society)
The house is a two-story structure with a stucco exterior and a red tile roof, built around a central courtyard, a common feature in Spanish Revival architecture. The courtyard, surrounded by a covered gallery, is supported by ornate columns and paved with Saltillo tiles, calling attention to a beautiful fountain. The main entrance faces the east side and is marked by a large arched doorway with heavy wooden doors, with the doorway flanked by two smaller arched windows. The second story draws the eye to a balcony with a wrought-iron railing.
The interior of the Burges House equally impresses, comprised of a large living room accentuated by a beamed ceiling and a fireplace, a formal dining room, a library, and a grand staircase leading to the second floor. Decorative tile and wrought-iron fixtures adorn the walls, and Saltillo tiles and hardwood beautify the floors.
Like Thorman’s Burges House, Wuehrmann’s J.B. Blaugrund Residence blends various architectural styles. J.B. Blaugrund was born in 1891 to Israel Eliyahu Blaugrund and Fanny Blaugrund. He married Margaret Amstater in 1923 in Texas. He resided in El Paso most of his life, passing away in 1968 at the age of 76. He founded the American Furniture Company at 317 Overland in 1912, and it very likely financed his Spanish-style home on Cincinnati in El Paso’s Kern Place.
The Spanish Colonial Revival style, the Pueblo Revival style, and the Arts and Crafts movement heavily influenced Wuehrmann’s designs. These influences are evident in the design of the J.B. Blaugrund Residence. Stucco walls, a red tiled roof, and a prominent tower characterize the house’s exterior. The house’s tower features a conical roof adorned with decorative tiles, wrought-iron details and a bell. A large wooden door with wrought-iron detailing and a curved arch above it marks the residence’s entrance. A beautiful wooden staircase in a large entrance hall leads to the second floor. The living room features a beamed ceiling, a large fireplace, and a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains. The dining room offers a coffered ceiling and a built-in china cabinet with decorative glass doors.
The residence also sports a central courtyard. At center stage in the courtyard, a covered gallery with arches supported by columns surrounds a fountain. Complimenting the Spanish Colonial Revivalstyle elements, the house flaunts Arts and Crafts-styled decorative tiles, handcrafted woodwork, and built-in cabinetry, particularly evident in the library, containing exquisite wooden bookcases and a striking beamed ceiling. The residence’s design reflects El Paso’s cultural influences, mainly Spanish and Mexican heritage.
The Burges House and the J.B. Blaugrund Residence utilize an intricate blend of styles, adding to their aesthetic and historical value. It’s interesting to see how two gifted architects with similar roots executed their visions in unique and differing ways. Together, Thorman’s and Wuehrmann’s designs and buildings helped strengthen El Paso’s architectural integrity by incorporating elements of the region’s diverse cultural heritage. Their work reflects the region’s influences from Mexico, Spain, and Native American cultures, aiding in developing a unique architectural identity for the city. The use of local materials and building techniques, as well as the application of traditional design elements, created buildings that were not only beautiful but also culturally significant.
Overall, Otto Thorman’s and W.G. Wuehrmann’s work continues to inspire and influence budding architects and designers in the El Paso area and beyond, serving as a testament to the importance of incorporating cultural influences into a city’s design.
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FAMOUS TREE OF TEXAS
Richard Fenner Burges planted this Live Oak tree in 1914. It is most likely the first and oldest Live Oak in El Paso.
When I am forever from this life
Erect no marble shaft for me
But plant, somewhere upon a dusty road
An acorn in my memory
And plant it deeply that the seed may spring
Into an oak some distant day
A tall and stately tree to spread kind shade
For travelers that come that way
And hold its boughwide spread
To welcome there small feathered creatures on the wing
That they may find sanctuary and the world
May share the loveliness they sing.
Then I shall rest in peace, content to know
I have a monument where oak trees grow.
– Richard Fenner Burges
Borderland Treasures: Exploring the homes of Otto H. Thorman
