Washburn Residence

An early and fascinating Craftsman style home is at 1517 Montana in El Paso -- the 1904 Washburn Home. The Washburn is designed in a "Prairie Box" Foursquare architectural style, including the 2-1/2 story 4-rooms-per-floor with a central dormer, the large porch with square pillars, hipped roof with oversized eaves (a la Arid America) and rectangular prairie-style windows. Older pictures of the property show round, Doric styled pillars standing guard in the front of the portico, so it is evident that the front porch was remodeled and partially enclosed at a later date. However, the addition of the squared pillars drives the design towards Foursquare even more than the originals.

Dating the erection of this home is a little enigmatic. County records show its construction date as 1920, however the 1907 Trost & Trost advertising booklet has it pictured. City Directories first mention it in 1905, and I found a want-ad for a housekeeper in a newspaper dated October 1904. Since the home is not in the 1904 Directory, but needed a housekeeper in October of that year, I am confident that completion of the home was in August or September 1904.

The home still stands, and is currently owned by Financial Advisor Carlos Veytia, according to the EPCAP. A sign in front of the property confirms that. Visit his website at http://www.carlosveytia.com/team/carlos-veytia. We appreciate that this wonderful 116-year old building is kept in such excellent condition!

The original occupants were Miss Anna Washburn, a Kindergarten administrator and teacher; Dana N. Washburn, the Secretary/Treasurer of the El Paso Fuel Company; and Laura N. Washburn, the widow of "John Q." Washburn. There is very little information we can find on these people, however we do know that they remained at that home until at least 1922.

The 1904 Washburn Home was one of Trost & Trost's first commissions in El Paso.
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Text and research provided for the El Paso Sketch Club by Mark Stone, citing the above referenced sources. This historical narrative is derived from newspaper articles accessed through the Library of Congress' Chronicling America project at https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ and the University of North Texas (Denton) Digital Archives at https://texashistory.unt.edu/

Google Earth Street View accessed 2/25/2020

Image courtesy of the El Paso Public Library's Aultman Collection, Ponsford 175, via the University of North Texas (Denton) Digital Repository at https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth875435/m1/1/?q=Ponsford%20175

Image, a clip from Page 17 of the 1907 Trost & Trost advertising booklet, courtesy of the El Paso Public Library via the North Texas University (Denton) Digital Repository at https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth875477/?q=Trost

Screenshot from the 1907 El Paso City Directory