Sullivan Carriage House

The Sullivan Carriage House was designed c. 1890 by Alfred Giles, an English expatriot noted for stately courthouse architecture and gracious homes throughout the state. The building, which originally housed a stable, hay loft and carriage showroom, fell into disuse and was eventually acquired by the San Antonio Light for the storage of newsprint.

In the 1980s, the Light offered to donate the venerable building with the stipulation that the recipient remove it from the premises. The San Antonio Botanical Society sponsored the painstaking task of dismantling and reconstructing the structure, stone by stone, to its new setting on the Botanical Society’s grounds.

The former stable was cleverly transformed into a restaurant, with booth seating in former horse stalls; the hay loft became a meeting room; and the large carriage showroom space was reconfigured into a gift shop, public restrooms and two small executive offices. 

The turn-of-the-century edifice was brought up to current building codes by installing an automated fire sprinkler system, and the old plank floors were treated and reinforced to increase their fire resistance and to better accommodate a steady stream of heavy foot traffic. The barn doors were re-milled; they now serve as exit doors. Salvaged wood was also used to construct rustic fixtures, shelves and cabinets for the gift store. Finally, the building’s original ironwork was repaired when possible and augmented by new ironwork carefully designed for aesthetic compatibility with the old.

Client> San Antonio Botanical Society
Construction Cost> $350,000
Completion> May 1992