7 Willow Way

7 Willow Way

Elizabeth Graham drew a stick along the ground to outline the ten-room masonry house she built in a pecan grove of the San Antonio River flood plain near Mission San José. She replicated mission doorways and the staircase and fireplaces of the Spanish Governor’s Palace, which she operated for the city for many years. The unpretentious, spontaneous style of the home, built by craftsmen from Mexico, later charmed Mrs. Graham’s new son-in-law, O’Neil Ford. The young architect set up his early office in the informally created surroundings and credited them with inspiring his commitment to the informal, vernacular architecture styles for which he became internationally known.

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