This beautiful hand made, hand colored card carried holiday greetings from the family of Rice architecture professor William Ward Watkin, circa early 1930s:

The house pictured is the Watkin’s home, of course, located at 5009 Caroline, in a neighborhood that was home to many of the early Rice faculty. I believe there’s an office building there today.

The reason I think the card was drawn in the early 1930s is that the original house, built in the mid-teens, underwent a major renovation and a serious remodel around that time and Watkin would have wanted to show it off. Here’s how it looked in 1915:

William Ward Watkin house 5009 Caroline original, Houston, Texas

And here it is after the remodel, I’d say sometime in the 1940s:

William Ward Watkin house 5009 Caroline after remodel, Houston, Texas

Bonus: Here’s Watkin standing on the front porch with a bust of himself done by none other than William McVey ’27, who I was just talking about the other day.

Extra Bonus: Merry Christmas everyone from the 4th floor of Allen Center! I slipped in and out before anyone spotted me.