Minchen, Simon and Mamie, House

The Simon and Mamie Minchen House, built in 1931, is named for the family occupying it continuously. The Minchen House meets Criteria C in the area of Architecture at the local level of significance. Designed by noted Texas architect, Joseph Finger, the residence exemplifies the Italian Renaissance style. During the Depression, when materials and labor were inexpensive, Finger, who was known for his large commercial projects, utilized overbuilt structural members and commercial specifications that contribute to the stability of the property. Sitting on its original lot the Minchen House retains its integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.

The Simon and Mamie Minchen House (final plans dated March 17, 1931) was designed in the Italian Renaissance style by Joseph Finger (1887-1953). Simon and Mamie Minchen selected the style of home that they wanted after looking at homes in Houston neighborhoods and considering magazine photographs, books, illustrations, and suggestions offered by Finger. Their final selection was based on a photograph in a magazine that Finger showed them of magnificent homes along the Italian Mediterranean coast.

The residence was the first and largest residence of seven now located in one block facing North Boulevard in the Boulevard Oaks neighborhood. The block is approximately 675 feet long. The Minchen House sits on a level corner lot three feet above the curb at the intersection then steeply terraced down to the North Boulevard sidewalk and the curb on Woodhead Street. Boulevard Oaks comprises the 1500-1900 blocks of North and South Boulevards lying in the contiguous subdivisions of Edgemont, West Edgemont, Ormond Place, West Ormond, and three smaller parcels. Despite the multiplicity of subdivisions, the blocks along North and South Boulevards display a cohesiveness in terms of both architecture and landscape architecture which epitomizes upper middle-income residential developments in the south end of Houston in the 1920s. The houses, most built between the middle 1920s and late 1930s, exemplify the refined suburban domestic architectural traditions prevalent in the United States during the interwar years. The neighborhood was developed as Houston's residential and institutional core moved south and west of the downtown area. Rice University, the Texas Medical Center, Hermann Park, and the Museum of Fine Arts are contemporary with the neighborhood and are located less than a mile away. The planning of North and South Boulevards as boulevards divided by central, landscaped lots guaranteed uniformity and consistency that makes Boulevard Oaks a cohesive neighborhood in Houston.

The Simon and Mamie Minchen family has continuously occupied the property since its completion in the latter part of December 1931. Simon Minchen (1886-1958) was born in Austin, Texas, on May 18, 1886, the oldest of 12 children, (seven boys and five girls) and moved alone to Houston in 1902. In 1907, at age 21, he entered the real estate business and remained an active investor throughout his business life. His largest investment during his early years (1912) was in the Fidelity Addition (now well-developed as part of Houston), a subdivision that contains 86 blocks and 3,000 lots. In 1919 he began making investments in land, minerals, and royalties in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma where oil and gas fields were being developed or where he believed such development would occur. Subsequently, he became one of the early developers of the oil and gas business in Texas during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1929, Simon Minchen served as a member of the Houston Real Estate Board that helped guide Houston's real estate development during the Depression era.

Mamie (Passes) Minchen (1887-1986) was born in Galveston, Texas, on November 11, 1887 (the middle child of five, one boy and four girls) and moved with her parents to Houston c. 1897. She married Simon Minchen on January 14, 1922. In 1931 they moved into their new home at 1753 North Boulevard in Houston's expanding suburbs. She was well known for the beautification of her yard and received many accolades from her civic club, neighbors, and friends. Mr. and Mrs. Simon Minchen had three children: Meyer, Ralph, and Dorothy. Meyer and Ralph followed their father into the oil and gas business and the real estate business in Houston. Meyer (born June 8, 1923) currently resides in the house.

The Simon and Mamie Minchen House and garage feature several distinct Italian Renaissance characteristics including clay tile, low pitch, hipped roof; modified rectangular plan; decorative brackets in eaves; classical columns surrounding the main entry; regular fenestration with arched windows and doors in the lower level and less elaborate rectangular windows above. The interior features arched entryways, tile and red oak floors, crystal chandeliers, plaster walls and decorative molding, and a cast stone fireplace surround. The property retains its integrity with few alterations to the interior or exterior.

The Italian Renaissance style in the United States evolved through its migration west from Italy across Europe to cross the Atlantic Ocean to the northeastern United States and then to the west and south across the United States. The style developed in popularity in the United States during the period from 1890-1935. The Minchen House was built near the end of that period and is now among the few remaining unchanged domestic examples of this style of architecture remaining in Houston, Texas. In Texas preference was usually given to the Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial styles, rather than the Italian Renaissance. In Houston, the best manifestations of the style are at Rice University. The Minchen House remains a fine example of this unique style and represents the work of prominent architect Joseph Finger. Much of Finger's design for the Minchen House illustrates his use of specifications similar to commercial projects and his preference for overbuilt structural members.

With its architectural integrity intact, the Minchen House stands now as it did in 1931. The house's significance derives from its characteristic architectural features and its association with prominent architect Joseph Finger. Austrian-born Finger came to the United States in 1905. After first settling in New Orleans, in 1908 he moved to Houston.

Finger designed some of Houston's finest commercial and institutional buildings between 1920 and 1940. He is responsible for designing several county courthouses in Texas. Among his best work are the Houston City Hall, Houston Municipal Airport, Jefferson Davis Hospital, and Clark and Courts Building. All of these used the progressive, Moderne style of the period. Other more eclectic designs include the Spanish Colonial Revival Wade and Mamie Irvin House at Morgan's Point and the chateauesque design of the Joe Weingarten House in Houston's Riverside Terrace neighborhood. He was 41 years old when he designed the J. W. West Mansion, constructed 20 miles southeast of Houston on Clear Lake in 1930. (Houston Post, 77-87) Finger was active in a number of civic, religious, and social groups. As the city's foremost Jewish architect from the 1910s through the 1940s, Finger designed many Jewish institutional buildings, as well as buildings for individual Jewish clients. He was a member of the American Institute of Architects, the Temple Beth Israel, the Benevolent Paternal Order of Elks, the Concordia Club, and the Glenbrook Country Club. Finger died in 1953 at the age of 66.

Like the Minchen House, the J. W. West Mansion was designed in the Italian Renaissance style patterned after the beautiful villas of Italy. (Houston Post, 7-22-28) The West Mansion was easily one of the largest houses in Texas during the late 1920s and 1930s and was remarkable in its design and craftsmanship. Extravagantly ornate, the 2-story West Mansion features a 150-foot-tall palm and breakfast room on the ground level and nine bedrooms and baths on the upper floor.

The contractor who constructed the Minchen properties, W. J. Goggan, was a well-established building contractor managing to stay busy during the worst years of the Depression era. Based upon his outstanding reputation for attention to detail and for attaining quality craftsmanship, Finger selected him for the construction of the Minchen House.

The Simon and Mamie Minchen House meets criteria C in the area of Architecture at the local level of significance as an excellent example of an Italian Renaissance-style residence. The property is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.