History

Niels Esperson arrived in Texas in the late 19th century and became one of the state’s most successful oil operators, building his fortune from the discoveries of the early Texas oil boom. His ambition, before his death in 1922, was to build a skyscraper in downtown Houston that would announce the city’s commercial importance and serve as a monument to the industry that had transformed it. It fell to his widow, Mellie Esperson, to realise that ambition. She commissioned John Eberson — the architect of dozens of atmospheric movie palaces across the United States, whose theatrical approach to ornament translated naturally to a prestige tower commission — to design the building that would carry her husband’s name.

Eberson’s design drew on the Italian Renaissance tradition, particularly the Venetian palace, for its ornamental vocabulary: the upper floors are clad in a programme of arched windows, carved cornices, and pilasters that transform the setback skyscraper form into something that reads, from the street, more like a campanile or a palazzo than a conventional office tower. The crown — a cupola set atop the setback zone of the upper shaft — is the building’s most distinctive feature at a distance. The overall effect is of a European landmark transposed to the Texas bayou city, which is precisely what Mellie Esperson intended.

The Niels Esperson Building was completed in 1927 and served as one of the premier office addresses in Houston for decades. The companion Mellie Esperson Building, designed by Kenneth Franzheim and completed in 1941, extended the complex to the south. The Esperson Buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of their architectural significance within the context of Texas and the American South-West. The buildings continue in commercial use and remain one of the most-photographed architectural ensembles in downtown Houston.