Dr. Thomas Cranfill (1913-1995), English professor at the University of Texas, commissioned this three-unit apartment building as a residence and studio for his partner, photographer and author Hans Beacham (1925-2004). Completed in 1960, Harwell Hamilton Harris (1903-1990), Director of the University’s School of Architecture from 1951-55, designed the apartments in his distinctive regional modern style. Harris combined an open interior layout with board-and-batten redwood siding and exposed concrete block, emphasizing natural light, honesty of the materials and the connection between building and landscape. Harris also designed the nearby Cranfill House, built in 1955.