About Laguna Gloria

The historic grounds of Laguna Gloria

The grounds of the Austin Museum of Art-Laguna Gloria have delighted visitors for many years. Stephen F. Austin once owned the property, which he described as being “on the Colorado at the foot of the mountains.” In 1832, Austin wrote that he intended to build a home for himself here, but this never came to pass.

In addition to her talents as a businesswoman, author, playwright, and politician, Clara Driscoll was an avid gardener. She designed the terraced gardens of the estate herself over a period of many years, incorporating plants native to the region. In 1926 she reflected:

I have struggled to make this little home site…into a passably presentable garden of lawns and shrubs and flowers, intersected by paths and steps, with…glimpses and balustrades, and a few oil jars of ancient and accepted design. I have placed in…a proper setting a number of really beautiful and graceful statues which I was fortunate enough to obtain from one of the oldest and finest gardens in old Italy; this to give an Old World touch to an incomparably beautiful Texas landscape and to contribute a little dignity and formality to the riotous caprices of this violet-crowned vale.

Clara Driscoll was one of the founding members and first president of the Violet Crown Garden Club in 1924. The name was undoubtedly taken from Pindar, a Greek lyric poet of the fifth century B. C., who wrote of Athens thus: “City of light, with thy violet crown, beloved of the poets, thou art the bulwark of Greece.” O’Henry, the popular American short-story author, borrowed this classical reference when he referred to Austin as the “city with violet crowned hills.” The club dedicated itself to the beautification of the city through the planting and cultivation of flowers and shrubs.

Among the many plants native to Laguna Gloria were live oak, cedar, and wild laurel. Clara’s first task in landscaping was to clear the profusion of rocks found on the grounds. Many of the stones were later used in the construction of retaining walls and walkways. Clara Driscoll had a fondness for tropical plants, as witnessed by the healthy palms she planted in the circle driveway. She also augmented the landscape with crepe myrtle, ligustrum, Lombardy poplar, Italian cypress, and iris.

As suggested earlier, Clara Driscoll enlivened her gardens with sculptures and historic artifacts. Among these were statues of the Four Seasons to the north of the building, and a mission bell forged in “Hillsboro, O.” which hangs in a decorative arch near the garden of the Four Seasons. In addition, before the road circled around the western side of the house, a sundial once stood on a small classical column in the middle of the yard to the northwest, in front of the mission bell. A wishing well imported from Tuscany may still be seen to the south of the building.

Clara Driscoll purchased two sets of wrought iron gates from the State to decorate the grounds, each bearing the star of Texas. The gates originally protected two entrances to the Capitol grounds, but were removed when the driveways were widened. The first set adorns the main 35th Street entrance. The second set stood at the far southern point of the grounds near a small circular “pagoda.” Now called the Temple of Love, a replica of the classical gazebo built for Clara Driscoll is located at the original entrance to Laguna Gloria.

Since Clara Driscoll’s time, examples of contemporary American sculpture have been added to the grounds. They include works by Clyde Connell, Nancy Holt, T. Paul Hernandez, Jim Huntington, Peter Reginato, a memorial sculpture by Charles Umlauf, and whimsical creatures created by young Art School students.

At the center of the circular drive on the eastern side of the building-now the front entrance-is a fountain composed of a circular basin in which stands a mirthful “putti,” or young boy, holding a fish. Another small fountain of a boy balancing a broad bowl on his head stands on the west patio of the building in a shallow, square basin. Both fountains have been restored. Works of contemporary sculpture also grace this green oval, including a major granite work by Jesùs Morales.

In 1945, two years after Clara Driscoll donated the site to be used as a museum, a member of the Violet Crown Garden Club remarked that Laguna Gloria had two purposes. The first was to display art; the second, to provide a location for the study and enjoyment of beautiful landscapes. The Austin Museum of Art now offers exhibitions and expanded programs in its downtown facility inaugurated in 1996 at 823 Congress Avenue, while preserving its original home and grounds.