Grand Opening of Visitor Center at Villa Finale, a National Trust Historic Site in San Antonio, Tex.
Posted October 23, 2009 | Contact pr@nthp.org or 202-588-6141
WHAT: Dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the Visitor Center at Villa Finale, home of the late Walter Nold Mathis and a National Trust Historic Site. The Honorable Phil Hardberger, former Mayor of San Antonio and James Vaughan, Vice President of Stewardship of Historic Sites at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, will deliver remarks. Villa Finale's Visitor Center, opening on October 21, is home to a permanent exhibition focusing on renowned preservationist Walter Mathis, his home Villa Finale and the King William National Historic District. The changing exhibition gallery celebrates highlights from Mathis's rich and varied decorative arts collection. Exhibitions at the Visitor Center are free and open to the public. The Visitor Center will also offer programs on arts, collecting and historic preservation.
In 2004, Walter Mathis gave his home, Villa Finale, and his fine and decorative arts collection to the National Trust for Historic Preservation with the intention that it become a museum. The opening of the visitor center is the first step in fulfilling this dream. Once the restoration of Villa Finale and its gardens and the documentation of the extensive collection are complete in the fall of 2010, the home will open as the first National Trust Historic Site in Texas.
WHEN: Wednesday, October 21, 2009
WHERE: Villa Finale, 122 Madison Street, San Antonio, Texas
TIME: 5:00 – 6:30 PM – Dedication and reception
6:30 – 8:00 PM – King William Neighborhood and Friends Celebration
CONTACT: Sandra Smith, Director, 210.223.9800 ext. 34326, VillaFinale@nthp.org
Villa Finale was the home of Walter Mathis, a leading preservationist in San Antonio, Texas, who is widely recognized as the catalyst for the revitalization of the King William Historic District. In addition to his work in King William, Mathis was an advocate for city and statewide historic preservation, a civic and cultural leader and a prodigious collector of artifacts of nearly every type. The home and its collections were given to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2004, so the home could become the first National Trust Historic Site in Texas. Villa Finale is one of 29 National Trust Historic Sites, including the homes of Presidents James Madison and Woodrow Wilson, three Frank Lloyd Wright homes, and the modernist masterpieces The Farnsworth House and Philip Johnson's Glass House. For more information, visit www.VillaFinale.org.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately-funded nonprofit organization, works to save America’s historic places to enrich our future. www.PreservationNation.org
