Please note that advance ticket purchase is required for this tour.

What is now the First Montrose Commons Historic District includes two historic neighborhoods platted on what was then Houston’s southwestern edge: the Lockhart, Connor & Barziza Addition (1873) and the Bute Addition (1907). Construction in the area began in earnest after the adjacent Montrose Place neighborhood opened in 1911. Today, the streets of First Montrose Commons are lined with an eclectic mix of large and small homes and apartment buildings designed in a variety of 20th-century styles.

Our new 90-minute docent-guided tour will explore the area’s history, the architecture of its homes and buildings, and the story of how First Montrose Commons weathered challenges ranging from postwar decline to wholesale demolition that made way for construction of the Spur 527 freeway. Along the way, we’ll see the work of prolific homebuilders Russell Brown and E.L. Crain and discuss how the area changed when the Lockhart, Connor & Barziza Addition became a part of Montrose, the largest suburban residential development in early 20th-century Houston.

This is an exterior architecture tour only. The tour will not go inside any buildings. There are no public restrooms along the tour route.

Photo: Dr. John Hoskins Foster House (1912, Birdsall P. Briscoe) / by Jim Parsons

About the tour

Advance ticket purchase is required for the tour; tickets are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. We will not be able to accommodate walk-ups on the day of the tour. There are no refunds for tour tickets.

Registrants will receive parking and check-in information via e-mail.

Face masks are optional for all fully vaccinated individuals, including docents. We ask that tourgoers who are not fully vaccinated remain masked at all times during the tour, including at check in.

In the event of inclement weather that prevents the tour from being offered as planned, we will notify registrants as far in advance as possible about their options to attend a rescheduled tour or transfer their reservations to another Preservation Houston tour.

Do you have an Architecture Walks pass?

If you have joined Preservation Houston and received a pass for a free Architecture Walk, you may redeem the pass for admission to this tour. E-mail tours@preservationhouston.org and we'll be happy to help.

Passes are redeemable subject to ticket availability.