View source for Laguna Gloria

{{short description|Historic house in Texas, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox nrhp | name = The Contemporary Austin - Laguna Gloria
  | image = AMOA-Laguna Gloria.jpg
  | caption = 
  | location = 3809 W. 35th St<br>[[Austin, Texas]], [[United States|USA]]
  | nearest_city =
  | coordinates = {{coord|30|18|44|N|97|46|27|W|display=inline,title}}
  | built = 1916
  | architect=Jack Johnson
  | added = December 6, 1975
  | refnum=75002005
  | governing_body =
}}
The '''Contemporary Austin - Laguna Gloria''', formerly known as the '''AMOA-Arthouse at Laguna Gloria''', is the former home of [[Clara Driscoll (philanthropist)|Clara Driscoll]] and site of a 1916 [[Italianate]]-style villa on the shores of [[Lake Austin]] in [[Austin, Texas]]. It was the original home of the Austin Museum of Art and still houses some of its collections.  The building is now one of two sites of [[The Contemporary Austin]].

The building is listed in the [[National Register of Historic Places]].

==History==
Before the influx of white settlers, [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] visited the site for its nearby spring (today underwater). The land that includes the property was originally owned by [[Stephen F. Austin]], who in 1832 (seven years before Austin was founded) wrote that he wished to build a home there. This never came to pass.

In 1914 the property was purchased by Hal Sevier, editor of the ''[[Austin American-Statesman|Austin American]]'', with his new wife [[Clara Driscoll (philanthropist)|Clara Driscoll]]. They completed their villa two years later, inspired by a honeymoon visit to [[Lake Como]] in Italy. Clara, an avid gardener, spent many years planting native and foreign plants around the site and designing the terraced gardens that remain to this day. In 1943 Driscoll donated the homesite to be used as a city museum.

In 1961, the site was converted to the Laguna Gloria Art Museum and became an important part of the Austin arts scene.  Soon after, the museum began offering art classes, and in 1983, a {{convert|5300|sqft|m2|adj=on}} facility was built specifically for the growing art school.

In 1992, the institution changed its name to the Austin Museum of Art, and four years later, moved its primary exhibition space to 823 Congress Avenue, in the heart of downtown Austin.  Laguna Gloria remained the site of The Art School, and in 2003, the Driscoll Villa was renovated and again became an exhibition space, focusing on local and regional artists.

The site is immediately adjacent to [[Mayfield-Gutsch Estate|Mayfield Park]], also on the National Register of Historic Places.

==Texas Historical Commission marker text==
"This Mediterranean style villa was built in 1916 for Henry H. and Clara Driscoll Sevier. Named Laguna Gloria for a nearby lagoon off the [[Colorado River]], the [[stucco]]ed home features a decorative window at San Jose Mission in San Antonio. In 1943 the site was conveyed to the Texas Fine Arts Assoc. by Clara Driscoll, best known for her efforts to preserve the Alamo. Her homesite is now owned by Laguna Gloria Art Museum."    Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1983<ref>[http://www.thc.state.tx.us/ Texas Historical Commission]</ref>

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
{{Reflist}}
* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.tx1001 Historic American Buildings Survey Folio]
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Laguna Gloria}}
* [http://thecontemporaryaustin.org/ The Contemporary Austin]

{{Austin}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:City of Austin Historic Landmarks]]
[[Category:Museums in Austin, Texas]]
[[Category:Historic house museums in Texas]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries in Texas]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas]]
[[Category:Houses in Austin, Texas]]
[[Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas]]