National Register Listing

Cohn, Arthur B., House

a.k.a. Saint Francis Center

1711 Rusk Ave., Houston, TX

The Arthur Benjamin Cohn House is located on the site of Winnifred Browne's homestead, in the spot where a small frame house was constructed by 1870. Arthur Cohn was instrumental in the founding of the Rice Institute, having served as William Marsh Rice's Houston accountant and then as the agent for Rice's estate and the new William Marsh Rice Institute. He was the first business manager of Rice University and was an influential and respected member of this community, both in his business dealings and in his association with Beth Israel Temple, of which he was a member. This is the only house in which Cohn lived that is still standing and that was his place of residence during the formative period of Rice University, between the probate of William Marsh Rice's will in 1905 and the formal opening in 1912. Cohn's papers and desk are housed in the Woodson Research Center of Rice University. Architecturally, the Cohn House is the last of many such turn-of-the-century, middle-class houses that once stood in this neighborhood. As such it was a particularly fine example with many well-wrought details such as the cast-stone rustication, carved wooden-block facing and quoins, and the magnificent glass work. Although the builder and/or architect are unknown, it was with unusual skill that the older section was incorporated into the new house in 1905. In more recent years the house has been used by the St. Francis Society, a Roman Catholic group devoted to good works in the community.

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1985.