# Birdsall Briscoe

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{{Short description|American architect}}
'''Birdsall Parmenas Briscoe''' (June 10, 1876 – 1971) was an American architect active in Texas, especially in [Houston](/source/Houston). Several of his works have been listed on the U.S. [National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places) for their architecture.

==Early life==
Briscoe was born on June 10, 1876, in [Harrisburg, Texas](/source/Harrisburg%2C_Texas), as son of Andrew Birdsall and Annie Frances (Paine) Briscoe. [Andrew Briscoe](/source/Andrew_Briscoe) was a grandfather and [John Richardson Harris](/source/John_Richardson_Harris), founder of Harrisburg, was a great-grandfather. His parents owned a ranch near [Goliad, Texas](/source/Goliad%2C_Texas). He left the area to attend a San Antonio Academy, a preparatory school in San Antonio, Texas. He matriculated at Texas A&M University and the University of Texas.<ref name=HTO>{{cite web|last=Fox|first=Stephen|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbrbw |title=Briscoe, Birdsall Parmenas |publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=October 17, 2018|date=September 26, 2016|series=Texas Handbook Online}}</ref>

==Career==
Briscoe trained as an architect under C. Lewis Wilson and Lewis Sterling Green, while later forming a three-year partnership with Green. He opened his own practice in 1912.<ref name=HTO/> He shared an office in downtown Houston with fellow architect, Maurice P. Sullivan.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Architecture of John F. Staub: Houston and the South|last=Barnstone|first=Howard|year=1979|location=Austin|publisher=University of Texas University Press|isbn=0-292-74012-3|page=18}}</ref> He was selected by the [River Oaks Company](/source/River_Oaks%2C_Houston) as one of three architects to design nine model homes in the nascent subdivision.<ref>Barnstone (1979), p. 10.</ref>

While still working outside of a partnership, Briscoe designed three homes in the [private](/source/private_place) street subdivision of [Courtlandt Place, Houston](/source/Courtlandt_Place%2C_Houston). He completed the [J. J. Carroll House](/source/J._J._Carroll_House), the [W. T. Carter Jr. House](/source/W._T._Carter_Jr._House), and the [Judson L. Taylor House](/source/Courtlandt_Place%2C_Houston) before [World War I](/source/World_War_I). All three are listed on the [National Register for Historic Places](/source/National_Register_for_Historic_Places).<ref name=nris>{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> He won commissions for two homes in Houston for [William Lockhart Clayton](/source/William_Lockhart_Clayton), both of which are historic landmarks. The first was the Georgian-Revival home sited on a whole city block in the Southmore Addition.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://houstonhistorymagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Clayton-House-edit.pdf|magazine=Houston History Magazine|title=Clayton House: Profile of a Home and the Family who Built It|first=Alex|last=Colvin|access-date=October 17, 2018|volume=13|issue=3|year=2016}}</ref> In 1924, Briscoe completed the [William L. Clayton Summer House](/source/William_L._Clayton_Summer_House) (NRHP-listed) in [River Oaks](/source/River_Oaks%2C_Houston), the first property to be developed in the subdivision.<ref name=AHC>{{cite web|url=https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/HistoricPres/landmarks/08PL72_Wm_Clayton_Summer_House_3376_Inwood.pdf|title=Protected Landmark Designation Report: William L. Clayton Summer House|access-date=October 17, 2018|publisher=Archaeological & Historical Commission, City of Houston|date=October 21, 2008}}</ref>

Briscoe's work can also be found in the [Broadacres Historic District](/source/Broadacres_Historic_District) in Houston. He designed four houses on South Boulevard with his partner Sam H. Dixon Jr. Two of these {{emdash}} the Clarence L. Carter and Walter H. Walne houses {{emdash}} employed prominent bays to create an asymmetrical medieval motif. The partners built a federal-style house for William D. Cleveland Jr. and a Spanish-style house for John F. Dickson Jr. They severed the partnership in 1926, after which Briscoe designed another four houses in Broadacres as a sole-practitioner. The first of these, the Cotswold-style Bettie G. Lester House on North Boulevard, marks a transition in Briscoe's work. He built an Italian villa for Burdine Clayton Anderson, then two more homes on North Boulevard, one for Robert W. Wier, and another for Edmond Pincoffs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/NR/pdfs/80004128/80004128.pdf|pages=10{{endash}}11|access-date=October 18, 2018|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form: Broadacres Historic District|date=February 8, 1980|publisher=United States Department of the Interior}}</ref>

Briscoe served as associate architect to John F. Staub in the development of [Bayou Bend](/source/Bayou_Bend), a sprawling mansion sited on a fourteen-acre lot in River Oaks. The home was built between 1926 and 1928 under the consultation of [Ima Hogg](/source/Ima_Hogg), who lived there with her brothers, Will and Mike. Hogg bequeathed the estate to the [Museum of Fine Arts, Houston](/source/Museum_of_Fine_Arts%2C_Houston), which operates the property as a museum annex for the Bayou Bend Collection of decorative arts. Bayou Bend is NRHP-listed.<ref>{{cite web|title=BAYOU BEND|last=Fox|first=Stephen|series=Texas Handbook Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=October 18, 2018|date=July 21, 2016|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/lbb01}}</ref>

Briscoe was a veteran of the [Spanish–American War](/source/Spanish%E2%80%93American_War) and [World War I](/source/World_War_I).<ref name=HTO/>

==Death==
Briscoe died on September 19, 1971, in Houston. He was interred at Oak Hill Cemetery in Goliad.<ref name=HTO/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Briscoe, Birdsall}}
Category:1876 births
Category:1971 deaths
Category:University of Texas at Austin alumni
Category:Texas A&M University alumni
Category:Architects from Houston
Category:American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
Category:American military personnel of World War I

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Birdsall Briscoe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birdsall_Briscoe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birdsall_Briscoe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.