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Fall 2008 Courses The Country Houses of Houston A Study Tour of Puebla, Mexico New World Baroque in Three Arts The Historic Election of 2008 The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting Stephen Sondheim: Master of the Musical Palladio Five Hundred Years Later Richard Ford's Trilogy

The Country Houses of Houston: Social History and Study Tour (Course Full) (Postponed until Spring 2009) Two Thursdays, October 2, 6–7:30 P.M.; October 16, 2:30 P.M. October 2, private residence; address will be provided to subscribers October 16, bus will leave at 2:30 P.M. from the Edloe Street side of the parking lot of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer Road at Edloe LIMITED ENROLLMENT Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, American urban elites emulated British gentry by building “country houses,” which were used as summer and weekend residences. During the second decade of the twentieth century, the country house underwent a startling transformation as it moved from the country to the prosperous neighborhoods and suburbs of large U.S. cities. Because most of Houston’s country houses of the 1920s and 1930s were built in city neighborhoods rather than on rural estates, they demonstrate the transformations required to adapt the country house to the city. This course will explore the architecture and lifeways associated with the country house in Houston. On October 2, Kate Kirkland will speak on the leading patrons of the country house movement in Houston. Two weeks later, Stephen Fox will accompany our tour of four houses, which will conclude with a reception at the last house. Kate S. Kirkland holds a Ph.D. in history from Rice University and is the author of The Hogg Family and Houston: Philanthropy and the Civic Ideal (forthcoming from the University of Texas Press). She is currently writing a biography of Capt. James A. Baker. Stephen Fox is an architectural historian and a fellow of the Anchorage Foundation of Texas. He lectures on architectural history at Rice University and the University of Houston. His most recent book is The Country Houses of John F. Staub. Links to sites outside of The Houston Seminar are not under their control and The Houston Seminar is not responsible for the information or links you may find there.  The presence of the link is not intended to imply The Houston Seminar endorsement.