Taylor, Judson L., House

The Judson L. Taylor House is an excellent example of Georgian Revival architecture and reflects the elegance and architectural quality common along Courtlandt Place, one of Houston's earliest and most exclusive subdivisions. Designed by Birdsall P. Briscoe in 1915, the house serves as an important historical link with Judson L. Taylor, one of the most prominent Houston surgeons of that time.

Birdsall Parmenas Briscoe, the architect for the Taylor House, is distinguished as an early Houston architect and a member of a prominent pioneer Texas family. Briscoe was born in 1876 in old Harrisburg, a town founded by and named for his great-grandfather, John Harris. His grandfather, Andrew Briscoe, signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. After attending San Antonio Academy, A & M College, and the University of Texas, Birdsall P. Briscoe began his architectural career in Houston, Texas, practicing from 1906-71. As a charter member and early president of the Houston chapter, of the American Institute of Architects, Briscoe was also a fellow of the AIA and a member of the Texas Society of Architects. Specializing in residences, Briscoe built many of Houston's finest houses in the Montrose area, Courtlandt Place, Shadyside, and Broadacres. Briscoe built 7 of the 18 houses located on Courtlandt Place. In the mid-1920s Briscoe built a summer home for the family of financier- statesman, Will Clayton, at 3376 Inwood, the first residence in River Oaks, which became and remains Houston's most exclusive neighborhood. The man who commissioned the building of #20 Courtlandt Place was one of Houston's most prominent surgeons, Judson L. Taylor. Born in 1881 in New Waverly, Texas, Taylor received his pre-medical education at the Texas School of Medicine in Galveston. In March 1904 Taylor married Jessie Gertrude Carter of Houston and after serving from 1903 to 1912 in the U. S. Navy Medical Corps, Dr. Taylor returned with his wife to Houston to establish their home and Dr. Taylor's surgical practice. In 1915 Dr. Taylor commissioned Birdsall Briscoe to design a house for his family on Courtlandt Place, an exclusive one-block long, divided boulevard on the outskirts of west Houston. The boulevard avenue displayed 9 houses by 1915, two of which had been built by members of Jessie Carter Taylor's family. The Taylor House became the 10th of 18 houses within this prominent neighborhood.

Dr. Judson Taylor had a prominent and prolific practice in Houston from 1912 until his death in 1944. A constant student, Dr. Taylor received a degree of M. Sc. for Graduate Work in Surgery from the University of Pennsylvania in 1923. His entire professional career was marked by exceptional leadership in medical affairs, including active participation in local, state, and national medical associations. In World War I he organized a naval hospital that served as the forerunner of the Jefferson Davis Hospital of Houston. During his career, he served on or headed the staff of the Memorial Hospital, Jefferson Davis Hospital, Methodist Hospital, Arabia Temple's Crippled Children's Hospital, Hermann Hospital, the Southern Pacific Hospital, and the M. D. Anderson Hospital for Cancer Research. In addition, he taught on the faculties of the Texas Dental College, the University of Texas School of Dentistry Baylor University College of Medicine in Houston, and the University of Texas School of Medicine in Galveston.

Besides his extensive surgical practice and his manifold professional obligations, Taylor was active in the civic, cultural, and social life of Houston. Taylor continued to live in his house on Courtlandt Place until his death in 1944.

The subsequent owner of #20 Courtlandt Place was important in Houston's medical and educational community. Dr. Henry A. Petersen was born in Roslindale, Massachusetts, in 1894 and reared in Maine. Petersen graduated from the University of Maine in 1917, studied at Oxford University in England, and then completed his medical education at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, where he remained for five years as an instructor and associate in surgery. After his marriage in 1928 to Emily Thomason, they moved to Alaska where he became an administrator for a hospital. The following year the couple came to Houston and Dr. Petersen entered private practice and became a member of the voluntary faculty of Baylor University College of Medicine.

Dr. Petersen was perhaps best known for his service on the Houston School Board. First appointed in 1938, he was elected president in 1945 and served on the board until his retirement in 1960.

After Dr. Petersen's death in 1965, his widow continued to own the house until 1973 when Pierre and Lesley Schlumberger bought the property. The Schlumbergers have been active in the research and maintenance of this historic Houston neighborhood.