7510 Cayton St.

Restoration began on the Texan Americana in summer 2008.

• year built: 1956
• architect/designer: Rice Institute architectural students
• location: Glenbrook Valley section 9
• status: extant

From an advertisement for the 1956 Houston Parade of Homes brochure (thanks to GlenbrookValley.com):

Already nationally recognized, the ‘Texas Americana’ was designed by Mel O’Brien, senior student at Rice Institute and winner of the best-designed 1956 home in the senior architectural class.

Many new ideas are incorporated in ‘Texan Americana’ to give it a distinctiveness of its own. All the living area, for example, is under a huge shed roof - an effect achieved through the use of all-laminated beams. This not only affords the home owner the beauty of exposed beams on the inside but provides a roof with the strength of a conventional roof.

Then there’s the kitchen, in a U-shape, which permits the housewife to perform all her chores, just by turning around, and cuts down on the number of steps she would have to take daily.