According to the 2010 US Census, Marfa, Texas is home to 1,981 people, 864 households and 586 families, although I can confirm that the population signs heading in and out of town last week said there were 2,121 people living in this sleepy little town. I have heard about the town of Marfa dating back to my days in college at the University of Texas at Austin where one of my good friends was a fan of minimalist artist Donald Judd, and he made a pilgrimage out here to visit the Chinati Foundation, a contemporary art museum Judd founded on the grounds of decommissioned US Army Fort D.A. Russell.
I was on vacation last week and part of my trip included spending time in Marfa – a town that despite it’s meager size and remote location, definitely has a designers vibe to it. A few days ago I wrote a post on “Textures from West Texas” a post that was inspired by the fact that I tend to take close-up and detailed pictures of different materials, patterns and textures – and all but 1 of those pictures came from within the town of Marfa. I like to think that I find some of my inspiration from looking at these sorts of images. Another thing that I am going to admit is that I tend to take pictures of the houses from different places. I will admit that despite the fact that I am standing in the middle of the street directly in front of these houses, I am extremely self-conscious about what I am doing. This is Texas after all and it is quite possible that the owners of these houses might be packing some heat.
Some of the houses I took pictures of look like they’ve been around for awhile. The city of Marfa, founded as early as 1883 as a water stop, along with its location only 60 miles from the Mexico border and it’s geographic location in the High Chihuahua Desert of West Texas, shows the architectural vernacular you would expect in this part of the country; Mission (1890 – 1920), Pueblo Revival (1910 – present), Spanish Eclectic (1915 – 1940), and Monterrey (1925 – 1955). What I was surprised to see was examples of Craftsman (1905 – 1930) and Colonial Revival (1890 – 1920).
And then there are the modern (or at least the attempt at modern …) examples. The photos I have here are not necessarily the best and the brightest but they do generally show the wide range of residential styles that a town 864 families in a small border town has to offer. I wasn’t sure what I’d find when I drove the streets to take my photos, some good, some bad, and some great – all of it interesting to me.
I hope you find it as interesting as I do.
I am loaded up with so many photos from my time spent in Marfa that I barely know what to do with them. There is an obvious attempt to find a balance between respect for the old ways while trying to add some new design considerations to current projects. While some are clearly more successful than others, they are almost all interesting.
Cheers,
.
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Bob – came across this article doing some research. Our studio project this semester is located in Marfa. Funny to run into your article while looking it up. Awesome pictures of the houses, fun to see the progression of styles.
Marfa is worth a visit – there are loads of col things going on there (and you can justify the cost to your parents since “it’s educational”)
awesome
Yes, Marfa is pretty amazing. Great photos, by the way! I lived there when I was young (born in Alpine) and spent some summers visiting my grandmother. In fact, she rented the last house in your photos (blue VW in front). I’ve been back a few times in the last couple of years….amazing what has happened there! Did you get a chance to tour the Paisano Hotel?
Wow – amazing how small the world is at times.
I actually stayed in the Paisano Hotel for 4 days – it was a nice hotel and it was really great to come in from the heat after a long day and get in a pool!
I had a great time there and have recommended to just about anyone who would listen that they should include a trip down to that area of the world – so many interesting things and people to see.
I can’t believe you missed “Everybody’s Favorite Building!” No, really, that’s what we used to call it. It’s the square, 2-story stone house just a couple of blocks outside the old D.A Russell gate.
I always loved the way bungalows evolved in Marfa, and you may not be able to tell they’re all adobe and/or stone. Mine was a real beater, but I hear it’s pretty slick and trendy now. Good times.
There were some pretty nice buildings immediately outside the DA Russell gate but they looked “too” nice and I didn’t think it really represented the norm (is Marfa has such a thing). I have all sorts of other pictures that I didn’t post, a lot of images of houses that were falling apart but you could see how they were built – things an architect would love.
Good times indeed
Arts and Crafts homes were ubiquitous across the country in the first 20 years of the 20th Century.They also seem to have a very high survival rate compared to many other styles, although I am not sure just why. Colonial was wildly popular some time later, but far west Texas would seem like a stretch to me also.
That might have been the most surprising house of the lot – and the only one I saw in the entire town. I was really curious to hear the story behind it. There were a lot of Arts and Crafts homes, by far the most represented style of home I saw. Even if they were popular, they seemed to have been REALLY popular in Marfa.
I was surprised not to see flat roofs, I’m sure there is very few rain.
very few flat roofs – I hadn’t really thought about that. I would surmise that the local style houses drew their forms more from the agrarian building typology that surrounding the local countryside – and that’s why there were so many hip and shed style roofs.
Some of those houses are as cute as can be. Not the first few.
Hah – too right!
There is some money being spent in this town and there were some obvious examples of houses where you thought “resident” versus others that were “transplant”. Unfortunately, many of the resident houses were more like the first few.
Interesting how most have the almost perfectly centered front door, covered porch design element. Thanks for sharing Bob. I could almost feel the outside temp.
there was a lot of symmetry to be found – even when the doors weren’t centered there was hierarchical asymmetry present. “Balance” seemed to be a conscious theme in almost all the homes in the town – it was great to see.
Iconic picture of the low slung ranch house with the classic Lincoln convertible sitting out front…the stuff of Hollywood story boards. Great pictures. What’s your favorite pic? Mine is the craftsman with the assymetric cactus hedge. But also like the burnt orange contemporary ranch…a unifying ground cover, say grasses, in front would make it perfect.
Hard to say – the one I would probably want to live in the most is the craftsman 2nd from the end – that or the one with the Lincoln in front (my picture doesn’t do it justice). I bought and read a history book on Marfa and that house (the Lincoln house) has roots back to pre-1900’s. In person it looks like a U-shaped plan and generous courtyard w/ deep overhangs lining the interior courtyard.
… I thought about going up and knocking the door for this one
Very nice collection..
I live in the burnt orange and Mark is right about the grasses.
You are welcome to see the “2nd from the end
craftman”..It is a Lannan Foundation house and often open to the public after readings..
As expected I am thoroughly enjoying your Marfa posts. Thanks for being an avid photographer.
Thanks Kristen –
I was concerned that I was going to heavy on the Marfa post – truth be told, I have two more that I could do – one on Chinati and Donald Judd, and one on the renovated Capri Hotel that Lake Flato modified about 6 years ago. I might do one more but probably not both.
Love the Lincoln Continental convertible. Were there tommy guns in the back seat?
I had some concerns about getting to get too close to that car … I was thinking the same thing
Great photos, Bob. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Nick!