LOCAL Houston | The City Guide July 2017 | Page 46
FOOD | ARTS | COMMUNITY | STYLE+LEISURE
Walsh was considered quick-witted and outspoken,
refusing to hold back her individuality.
SALLY WALSH, THE INTERIOR DESIGNER CREDITED WITH BRINGING
MODERN DESIGN TO HOUSTON, WAS A TRAILBLAZER WHO NOT
ONLY MADE AN IMPACT LOCALLY BUT CAME TO BE KNOWN NATION-
THE STORY OF HOUSTON
SALLY WALSH
By Alicia Islam
Images courtesy of The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University
of Texas at Austin, Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston, Texas,
Houston Public Library, Houston, Texas
ALLY AS WELL. SHE WAS INDUCTED INTO THE INTERIOR DESIGN HALL
OF FAME IN 1986, THE FIRST HOUSTONIAN TO RECEIVE THIS HONOR.
Sally Walsh was born in Inspiration, Arizona, in 1926. She started college
but dropped out due to boredom and moved to Chicago for an exciting
change. Though she was not trained in architecture or design, Walsh
learned from the renowned Hans Knoll, serving as his assistant and receiving
training from him. Walsh went above and beyond as his assistant – from
walking his dog to writing correspondences – but the opportunity to travel
to meet with other firms and have access to the latest designs and fabrics
allowed her to develop into a holistic designer.
Walsh arrived in Houston from New York in 1955 along with her husband,
Bill, a lawyer, who had found work in the city. She had intended to open
a Knoll showroom to bring the modern designs to a rapidly growing busi-
ness scene, but Hans Knoll’s sudden death halted her plans. After honing
her craft at other firms, Walsh eventually became a partner at S. I. Morris
Architects, a prominent Houston firm in 1971. Some of her major contribu-
tions in Houston include the Transco offices, Lehman Brothers offices and
the Jesse H. Jones Building of the Houston Public Library. Walsh began
revolutionizing interiors in corporate Houston during the 1950s; developer
magnate Gerald D. Hines is commonly credited as modernizing the Houston
Sally Walsh | Cesca Chair
architectural scene during the 1970s.
Walsh was considered quick-witted and outspoken, refusing to hold back
her individuality. Both her male and female colleagues took notice and many
of her co-workers strove to emulate her. Walsh once said, “When I walk
through the Houston buildings today and find good contemporary design,
whether or not I had a hand in it, I find myself taking credit […] because on
this specific turf it flourished with my help.” She was so intense that her fellow
Reprinted from the Texas State Historical
Association’s Handbook of Houston, a
project in cooperation with the Houston
History Alliance. For more information,
visit www.HoustonHistoryAlliance.org.
partner at S. I. Morris Architects, Seth Irvin Morris, called her the “toughest
son of a bitch in the partnership.” Walsh’s design philosophy was to help
the client “embrace modern design as a total concept.”
Walsh was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia but continued to work
through the 1980s until her death on January 12, 1992, at the age of 65.
Her innovative work continues to inspire architects and designers today.
Sally Walsh | Cite 9 Spring 1985
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First Professional Interior
july 17 |
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