Historical Marker

Walter and Mae Simms House

Marker installed: 2008

Austin architect Roger Q. Small designed this unique 1935 home for Walter and Mae (Moore) Simms, who established Simms Fish market in 1915 and delivered Gulf Coast seafood to hotels and restaurants throughout Central Texas for nearly forty years. The simplified Classical Revival style house is a side-gabled rectangular plan residence into a sloping lot, with butler brick walls and large multi-light windows. Below the house is an integrated five-bay garage, framed by a rough-cut limestone façade. This incorporation of a garage into the house’s main structure did not become common until after World War II, reflecting the rising influence of automobiles on architecture and urban planning during the early 20th century.

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark – 2008.