Alexander Halff House

601 Howard Street

Built in the once-stylish Tobin Hill neighborhood, the Alexander Halff House, with its metal shingled roof and twin projections flanking the main entrance, seems almost Japanese in character, but on a scale entirely American. The arch framing the front doors recalls the work of H.H. Richardson, especially in the use of such fine materials as the polished grey granite piers. The most original details are the first-floor columns, with their quasi-Art Nouveau foliate carving. Badly damaged by fire during the 1984 renovations, it was restored to its original splendor by Fisher Heck the following year and converted to office use.

‘San Antonio Architecture, Traditions and Visions’, AIA San Antonio, 2007