Indianapolis architects Burns and James produced at least eighteen houses in Houston between 1927 and 1930 for Katharine and Harry Mott, who came to Houston from Indianapolis via Miami to build houses speculatively. Burns and James, with whom the Motts had worked in the mid-1920s before leaving Indianapolis, produced designs in the picturesque manorial genre that, by virtue of their thin, linear plans, were well suited to Houston's hot, humid climate.