El Paso Country Club Repairs Plans
El Paso, Texas

Description: El Paso Country Club repairs
Other Names: none
Address: 400 Camino Real, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas
Type: fraternal: country club
Original Client: El Paso Country Club
Historic Inventory: none
Date: proposed repairs of 1936 to a building of 1920-1922
Condition: extant; in continuous use as a country club

Architect or Firm: Gustavus Trost
Associated Architect or Firm: Trost & Trost
Contractors: H.T. Ponsford and Sons
Dimensions and Orientation:
Budget/Cost: $25,000

Foundation:
Wall Materials:
Roofing Materials:
Other Materials Used:
Remodeling and Additions: read remarks below

Present Owner: El Paso Country Club
Location of Drawings: El Paso Public Library: (WW7) blueprints, six sheets of blueprints, dated August, 1936, including plans and elevations, with lines added in yellow crayon
Location of Documentary Photographs:

Bibliography: El Paso Public Library: (WW7): 16 sheets of specifications, carbon copy of typed text

Remarks: The building for which the repairs were proposed was designed by C. E. Barlebaugh and Percy McGhee, Jr.; see: El Paso Herald, April 28, 1920, page 4.

In 1922, the El Paso Country clubhouse was erected on the golf course grounds eight miles up from the valley. The land was a gift from Zach White. The architects for the new structure were C.E. Barglebangh and Percy McGhee Jr. The new clubhouse was to be mission style and built of reinforced concrete.

In the spring of 1936, the west wing of the clubhouse caught fire. The estimated damage was approximately $50,000.

In July, Trost & Trost were asked to submit sketches of the proposed remodeling. Otis Coles, president of the El Paso Real Estate Board also planned to investigate the possibility of tying in a proposed “play-boy” resort with the rebuilding of the El Paso Country Clubhouse.

In September, H.T. Ponsford & Sons began the remodeling of the west wing at a cost of $25,000. Trost & Trost were the architects.

A huge grill, 75 by 30 feet was one of the major innovation featured in the remodeling. Walls and partitions were razed for the enlargement of the grill on the ground floor. A new check room, with steel cages, for both the men’s and women’s lounges were installed. This was needed due to the frequent loss of coats, hats and other personal belongings.

Four white posts were erected in symmetrical arrangement in the center of the main dining room, two of them steel for reinforcement of the roof. The carpeted passageway between the posts led from the arched door of the solarium. A glass roof in the solarium was added during the remodeling. Oyster white tables and chairs were placed in the room.

A new ballroom floor was installed. Venetian blinds were used throughout the club. Draperies and upholstering were placed in the lounge, blending with the light green walls and darker green woodwork. The entrance lobby was furnished in Monterrey red furniture and red draperies.

George G. Matkin, president of the club announced the formal opening of the remodeled clubhouse on December 20, 1936. In time for the annual Christmas dance.

Gustavus A. Trost was a charter member of the El Paso Country Club.

Prepared for the El Paso Public Library by Lloyd C. and June F. Engelbrecht under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, 1990