Photograph of the Byrne-Reed House shortly after its construction. Courtesy of Tom Reynolds.

<em>Photograph of the Byrne-Reed House shortly after its construction. Courtesy of Tom Reynolds.</em>
The Byrnes purchased the property on October 10, 1905, from William Bohn, a partner in Bohn Brothers Department Store on Congress Avenue and an entrepreneur who bought and sold Austin real estate. The lot was perched on the northernmost boundary of the original city plan, at Rio Grande Street and North Street (now known as 15th Street).

The Byrnes commissioned Charles H. Page (1876–1957), a well-known Austin architect, to design their home. In 1907, when the house was complete, Edmund and Ellen moved from Fairview Park, a community just south of the Colorado River, perhaps to be closer to The University of Texas, which their children, Grace and Thomas, both attended.

Photograph of Byrne family men around the Live Oak tree that is still growing on the south side of the Byrne-Reed House. Courtesy of Tom Reynolds.

<em>Photograph of Byrne family men around the Live Oak tree that is still growing on the south side of the Byrne-Reed House. Courtesy of Tom Reynolds.</em>
Edmund and Ellen Sneed Byrne, were a prominent and widely respected couple. Edmund, a New York native of Irish heritage, was, according to the Daily Statesman, “popular with everybody who knows him.”

Portrait of Ellen Sneed (right). Courtesy of Tom Reynolds.

<em>Portrait of Ellen Sneed (right). Courtesy of Tom Reynolds.</em>
Ellen Sneed, the granddaughter of influential Judge Sebron Graham Sneed, grew up in Austin and met Byrne sometime after he moved from Galveston in the 1880s and established himself as a successful cotton buyer.

Following Ellen Byrne’s death in 1915, Edmund sold the house and moved to Fort Worth to be close to his married daughter. His son Thomas founded a successful construction company in 1923 that has helped build and restore major office centers and cultural institutions in cities across Texas for more than eighty years.

Portrait of David Reed (third from left) with brothers and sisters. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Portrait of David Reed (third from left) with brothers and sisters. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>
The David Reed family purchased the home in 1915. David Cleveland Reed started his business career in Austin as a cotton buyer and exporter with E. H. Perry & Company, the leading export firm in the city.

Portrait of the Reed brothers with David on the right, Thomas in the middle, and Malcolm on the left. Courtesy of the Reed Family.

<em>Portrait of the Reed brothers with David on the right, Thomas in the middle, and Malcolm on the left. Courtesy of the Reed Family.</em>
Like his brother Malcolm, David became a prominent civic leader as well as a widely known and successful businessman in Austin with interests ranging from cattle ranches and oil development to a partnership in the Driskill Hotel.

Portrait of David Reed. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Portrait of David Reed. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>
David Reed served on the Austin school board, the first city council under the city manager form of government, and the board of Texas Christian University.

Portrait of Laura Moses Reed. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Portrait of Laura Moses Reed. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>
David Reed and his wife, Laura Moses, moved to Austin just a year before the sale of 1410 Rio Grande.

Photograph of the Byrne-Reed House shortly after the Reed family purchased the home in 1915. From the book Austin: The City of the Violet Crown.

<em>Photograph of the Byrne-Reed House shortly after the Reed family purchased the home in 1915. From the book</em> Austin: The City of the Violet Crown.
The Reed family made several changes to the house. Shortly after their purchase, they extended the sleeping porch along the southernmost side of the house to encompass the entire terrace.

Photograph of Laura and Ruth Reed by the front entrance to the Byrne-Reed House. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Photograph of Laura and Ruth Reed by the front entrance to the Byrne-Reed House. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>
David Reed and his wife, Laura Moses Reed, raised two children in the house: Ruth Irene and Hiram Moses.

Photograph of the Byrne-Reed House in the 1927. From the Austin History Center, C01460.

<em>Photograph of the Byrne-Reed House in the 1927. From the Austin History Center, C01460.</em>
Later, striped canvas awnings were added to shade the second floor windows along the east side of the building.

Reed family and friends on the steps leading up to the main entrance of the Byrne-Reed House off Rio Grande. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Reed family and friends on the steps leading up to the main entrance of the Byrne-Reed House off Rio Grande. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>

Ruth Reed, right, with friends in the sitting room of the Byrne-Reed House. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Ruth Reed, right, with friends in the sitting room of the Byrne-Reed House. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>

Richard Dyke, left, Jack Wilder, Virginia Wilder, and Ruth Reed with unidentified friend on the south porch of the Byrne-Reed house circa 1930. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Richard Dyke, left, Jack Wilder, Virginia Wilder, and Ruth Reed with unidentified friend on the south porch of the Byrne-Reed house circa 1930. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>

Ruth Reed in the garden on the south side of the Byrne-Reed House. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Ruth Reed in the garden on the south side of the Byrne-Reed House. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>

Unidentified woman standing by the fountain in the garden on the south side of the Byrne-Reed House. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Unidentified woman standing by the fountain in the garden on the south side of the Byrne-Reed House. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>

Unidentified woman on the stairs at the south entrance to the Byrne-Reed House. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Unidentified woman on the stairs at the south entrance to the Byrne-Reed House. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>
At some point during their ownership, the Reeds also constructed a staircase at the porch on the south side of the house.

Ruth Reed, right, and friend in the music room of the Byrne-Reed House. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Ruth Reed, right, and friend in the music room of the Byrne-Reed House. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>

Ruth Reed, reflected in mirror, takes a photograph of a friend. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Ruth Reed, reflected in mirror, takes a photograph of a friend. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>

Portrait of Ruth Reed. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Portrait of Ruth Reed. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>

Unidentified women in what is believed to have been the east, second-floor bathroom. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Unidentified women in what is believed to have been the east, second-floor bathroom. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>
In the late 1920s, the family undertook the first of two significant interior renovations completed during their occupation of the house. Most notably, the dining room was redesigned with ornate plasterwork ceiling and wall decorations. The Reeds also painted the grand staircase and beam ceiling in the gallery around this period.

Portrait of Ruth Reed on the staircase in the gallery of the Byrne-Reed House on her wedding day in 1934. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Portrait of Ruth Reed on the staircase in the gallery of the Byrne-Reed House on her wedding day in 1934. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>
In 1934, Ruth Reed and Richard Burt Dyke held their wedding reception in the Byrne-Reed House.

Photograph of Ruth Reed. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Photograph of Ruth Reed. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>

Laura Reed in the music room of the Byrne-Reed House. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>Laura Reed in the music room of the Byrne-Reed House. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>
In the spring of 1948, the Reeds began their second significant interior renovation. The family commissioned plans from the architectural firm of Jessen, Jessen, Millhouse, and Greeven for a renovation of the first floor music and sitting rooms. The modifications included removing the wall between the two rooms in order to open the space into one large living room.

David Reed poses by his plane. Courtesy of the Reed family.

<em>David Reed poses by his plane. Courtesy of the Reed family.</em>
David Reed died tragically in an airplane crash in 1948. Representative Lyndon B. Johnson wired Laura Reed to express his shock and sorrow. “The nation never had a better citizen and I never had a better friend,” he wrote.

Photograph of the Byrne-Reed House after the company that purchased the home made significant renovations in 1952.

<em>Photograph of the Byrne-Reed House after the company that purchased the home made significant renovations in 1952.</em>
In 1951, the family sold the house to an insurance company, which subsequently modified the building for office use. The new owners enclosed the terraces for office space and subdivided the interior rooms.