Krakauer Residence
El Paso, Texas

Description: Krakauer residence
Other Names: Larrabee house, Valdespino house, Fant house
Address: 1519 Golden Hill Terrace, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas
Type: domestic: single family house
Original Client: Robert and Ruth Krakauer
Historic Inventory:
Date: 1915
Condition: destroyed by fire June 2018

Architect or Firm: Henry C. Trost
Associated Architect or Firm: Trost & Trost
Contractors: James L. Marr & Company
Dimensions and Orientation: two stories and basement; faces south
Budget/Cost: $15,000

Foundation: stone
Wall Materials: first story: red brick; second story: stucco and wood battens
Roofing Materials: shingles
Other Materials Used: cast stone ornament; wood pergola
Remodeling and Additions: converted to apartments (late 1930s)

Present Owner: privately owned
Location of Drawings: none known to exist
Location of Documentary Photographs: El Paso Public Library: Ponsford 180, facade

Bibliography: (1) Harriot Howze Jones, Heritage Homes of El Paso: the Krakauer House. Password, volume XXIV, number 3 (Fall, 1979), pages 128-130, description of the house, exterior photograph by M. G. McKinney, page 128
(2) El Conquistador, newsletter of the El Paso County Historical Society, September 25, 1985, brief description of the house
(3) El Paso Herald, March 2, 1915
(4) El Paso Herald, March 20, 1915

Remarks: Jones (above) is somewhat vague about the interior. She implies an extensive use of wood, leaded glass and built in features, all of which were characteristic of Trost & Trost at this time. The house had been converted to apartments, and according to El Conquistador, above, it has been restored to a single family home, and the exterior has been restored exactly as built. The restoration was by Jose Rangel and Felix Martinez. El Conquistador describes the house as having four bedrooms, three baths and a full basement. Robert Krakauer was a member of the firm of Krakauer, Zork & Moye, who were individually and collectively all Trost & Trost clients.

The first floor, of masonry construction, it stuccoed a light red. There is a open terrace with a heavy stone balustrade. An arched portico, upheld by white pillars, leads to the front door. There is a craver stone or plaster wreath above the door and matching trim above the downstairs windows.

It was built in 1915 and numbered 1523, the number was changed to 1506 in 1917, in 1926 the number again was changed to 1519.

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