On Saturday, August 1, Preservation Houston members are invited inside the Sterling-Berry House, a City of Houston Landmark and National Register-listed property where Montrose meets the Museum District. The building is vacant, making this a rare opportunity to appreciate its architecture on its own terms.
H. Jordan MacKenzie’s distinctive reinforced concrete porch, added in 1919, is a defining feature of the Sterling-Berry House / photo courtesy of Marcus & Millichap
In 1914, Ross Sterling — a co-founder of Humble Oil and future Texas governor — began developing Rossmoyne, an exclusive, esplanaded enclave, as a joint project with his siblings. Sterling built his own house there two years later. In 1919, he retained Alfred C. Finn’s office to add the porch that still defines the property. It was designed by Finn associate H. Jordan MacKenzie: a reinforced-concrete structure with a cantilevered canopy, an inglenook and oversized columns, capped above the front steps by a cast-stone cartouche that became MacKenzie’s signature device. Finn’s office would later design the Gulf Building, the San Jacinto Monument and the Sam Houston Coliseum, making such an ambitious commission for a private home all the more remarkable. Inside, generous rooms filled with natural light open from a broad central hall, while French doors connect the living spaces to the porch.
The house passed in 1934 to Joel H. Berry, a Houston banker and civic leader who served on City Council. As Montrose grew up around it in the decades that followed, many of Rossmoyne’s grand houses gave way to commercial development, and the house itself eventually shifted from private residence to law offices. Now bordered by the Southwest Freeway, the Sterling-Berry House is one of the last reminders of an ambitious residential enclave that few Houstonians remember today.
The house is on the market, and once it changes hands, an opportunity like this may not come again. Join us August 1 to experience one of Houston’s most remarkable historic homes from the inside.
Open house details
📅 The property will be open from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, August 1
📍 4515 Yoakum Boulevard
🚗 Free street parking available
🎟 This event is free and open to PH members and their guests — RSVP today