A century-old Italian Renaissance mansion tucked inside one of Houston's oldest gated enclaves has sold after hitting the market with a $4.6 million asking price, closing on July 20 and landing among the city's ten priciest home sales for the month. The 6,516-square-foot residence at 15 Courtlandt Place, known historically as the Johnelle Bryan House, sits on a 0.59-acre lot in the Montrose-area subdivision of Courtlandt Place, a private, gated street lined with grand early 20th-century homes.
The Houston Association of Realtors ranked the property as the city's ninth-most expensive home sale in July 2026, according to a report from Chron. The estate includes four bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, a marble-clad kitchen, formal living and dining rooms, a sunroom, a grand foyer, and a primary suite with its own private balcony, per the same report. A detached guest house on the property spans 1,700 square feet and comes equipped with a kitchenette, bedroom, living area, and flexible space, according to HAR.com.
A Young Architect's Only Local Commission
The home was completed in 1925 for sisters Caroline Bryan-Chapman and Johnelle Bryan, arts patrons who reportedly commissioned an open room layout specifically so they could host philanthropic musical concerts inside their own home, according to the River Oaks Garden Club. It was designed by architect Carlos Schoeppl, who was just 26 years old and trained at Paris's Beaux Arts Academy and London's Royal Academy at the time. The Courtlandt Place house stands as Schoeppl's only commission in that neighborhood and one of just two Houston projects he completed before relocating his practice to Florida, where he later built his reputation along the Gold Coast.
Schoeppl designed the two-story brick home in an Italian Renaissance style with cast concrete details, per background compiled by Wikipedia. The Johnelle Bryan House is now a recorded Texas historic landmark. The property underwent a renovation in 2019, and listing agent Dee Dee Guggenheim Howes of Compass RE Texas said the update masterfully updated the interiors while highlighting the home's traditional scale and ultra-luxury finishes.
Grounds Built for Modern Luxury
Howes also said the home's tailored built-ins and sophisticated materials balance the property's historical roots with a lavish modern lifestyle. The outdoor swimming pool and manicured south lawn were designed by Houston-based firm Curtis & Windham Architects alongside landscape designer Jane Curtis, according to PaperCity Magazine. The grounds also feature a sculpture by the late Texas artist Jesús Bautista Moroles, who is best known locally for creating the Houston Police Officers' Memorial in 1991; his piece sits poolside in the home's outdoor gallery space, per the same report.
Howes has represented luxury real estate in Houston for more than 25 years and was ranked by the Houston Business Journal as the city's #8 individual agent by sales volume and #17 luxury agent in 2024, according to HAR.com. Beyond its ranking among July's top ten sales citywide, the estate was also recognized by the Houston Business Journal as the single most expensive residential sale in the city for the week ending July 19, 2026, per a report relayed on Facebook.
A Private Enclave Dating to 1906
Courtlandt Place dates to 1906, when the land — originally owned by 19th-century Texas pioneer Mrs. Obedience Smith — was acquired and developed by the Courtlandt Improvement Company, according to the Texas Historical Commission. Modeled after early 20th-century St. Louis “private place” enclaves designed to shield residents from urban traffic, the neighborhood added a western entrance wall in 1912, designed by architect William Ward Watkin, to block through-traffic; the single boulevard was built with four central grassy median islands, per the City of Houston Planning and Development Department.
The enclave has just 18 homes and was once home to Texaco executives, banking leaders, judges and developers, according to Chron's report. Houston's planning and development department describes it as one of the city's oldest subdivisions still largely intact. The Courtlandt Place Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in December 1980, received a Texas Historical Marker in 1989, and was designated a municipal historic district by the City of Houston in June 1996 — protections that cover eleven individual structures in the district holding their own separate National Register listings.
