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Kohlberg Residence
El Paso, Texas

 

Description: Kohlberg Residence
Other Names: Francis (Frank) Ainsa house; Lee Fraser house
Address: 525 Corto Way, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas ( corner of Yandell and Corto)
Type: domestic: home
Original Client: Mr. and Mrs. Ernst (Olga Bernstein) Kohlberg
Historic Inventory: In Sunset Heights Historic District; on El Paso Register of Historic Places
Date: 1910
Condition: extant; in use as a home

Architect or Firm: Henry C. Trost
Associated Architect or Firm: Trost & Trost
Contractors:
Dimensions and Orientation: two stories, 63 feet wide (without pergolas) x 44 feet deep; faces southeast
Architectural Style: Spanish Mediterranean
Budget/Cost:

Foundation: concrete
Wall Materials: concrete, stuccoed
Roofing Materials: Spanish tile
Other Materials Used: wood columns, window surrounds
Remodeling and Additions: sleeping porch enclosed; tennis court removed and replaced by the garage (1940s)

Present Owner: Doug Yost
Location of Drawings: none known to exist
Location of Documentary Photographs: El Paso Public Library: 446, perspective view from West Yandell Drive corner

Bibliography: (1) Harriot Howze Jones, Heritage Homes of El Paso: the Kohlberg House, Password, volume XXII, number 4 (Winter, 1977), pages 176-178 (essay); page 176 (photograph of exterior)

Remarks: Jones, above, provides a lively description of the interior of the house, and of the families which have occupied it. The tall case clock in the entry hall is said to have been made for the house; the case is of the same oak as the wainscoting. Other Craftsman detailing abounds on the first floor.  The library, to the left of the hall, also features oak and has a large fire place and built in bookcases. Mahogany is used in the music room for the wood paneling, fireplace mantel and beams. Behind this is a large dining room done in golden oak. Their is a large built-in buffet flanked by china cabinets, with a beautiful stained glass window about the buffet. The kitchen. maid’s quarters and butler’s pantry are also on the first floor.

On the second floor are five bedrooms, two baths and a large sleeping porch.  The home has a full basement.

There is a pergola on each side of the house and a terrace on three side. When the house was first occupied, the address was listed as 600 West Boulevard.

Prepared for the El Paso Public Library by Lloyd C. and June F. Engelbrecht under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, 1990.