From Adobe to Award: Honoring Preservation at the Magoffin Home

Past Matters, Summer 2026, Published 06/11/2026

By: Danielle Brissette, Site Manager, Magoffin Home

On the last evening in April, members and supporters of the Texas Historical Foundation gathered at the San Antonio Botanical Garden for the annual Michael C. Duda Preservation Awards. Named in memory of architect and former board member Michael C. Duda, these awards of up to $100,000 are among the most significant preservation honors in the state of Texas.

The Duda Awards carry forward Michael’s deep commitment to Texas history, celebrating the essential role preservation plays in our cultural and civic life. The Friends of the Texas Historical Commission was selected as the recipient of a $10,500 award for its consistent and growing contributions to the Texas Historical Commission. From the fundraising efforts that helped save La Belle, to the reopening of the newly reimagined Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site, past accomplishments were highlighted alongside the current preservation projects. At the center of the celebration was the work at the Magoffin Home State Historic Site. Other honorees of the 2026 Duda Awards include the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, the Hemisfair Conservancy in San Antonio, and the top award recipient, the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston. We are thrilled to be in the company of these wonderful preservation organizations.

In a sweeping video presentation, the current restoration efforts at the Magoffin Home in El Paso were featured. For nearly a decade, the FTHC has assisted as site staff and experts researched the movement of water and salt within the adobe walls of El Paso’s historic mansion. Those expert voices combined to create a careful restoration plan: the thick, 100-year-old layers of Portland cement plaster are being completely removed from the exterior adobe walls, the damaged bricks beneath are being repaired, and the plaster will be replaced with materials that match the historic finish first applied under Joseph Magoffin’s supervision.

To create that historic finish the recipe consists of three parts: lime, sand, and the juice of prickly pear cactus, which allows moisture to “breathe” through the walls. That breathing process is a vital part of adobe preservation, something the cement plaster prevented for decades. Once restored, it will allow the 17-foot-high walls of the Magoffin Home to stand proudly for another 150 years of El Paso and Texas history.

Interestingly, the preservation work currently underway has already revealed secrets hidden within the Magoffin Home. From broken adobe bricks, adobaderos have recovered Victorian clay marbles, wooden laundry pegs, part of a pair of 1880s sunglasses, and countless butchered hog and chicken bones left behind from meals shared by Magoffin family members and laborers of the past. To some, these objects may sound like little more than trash, but to the researchers of the Magoffin Home they are valuable pieces of evidence that speak to the daily lives, work, and routines of the people who once occupied the property. Which child hid those marbles in a crack in the wall? Who lost the laundry peg, and did they notice it was missing? Why is there a bullet casing inside an adobe brick? As the project continues throughout this year and into the next, we anticipate our finds and our questions both increasing.

The $10,500 Michael C. Duda Award will further support the Magoffin Home preservation project, particularly the restoration of the original 1920s wooden floors that visitors are still able to walk across today. These floors, like the adobe walls, have been damaged by non-breathable plastic materials and now require careful repair and replacement in some areas. When the Home reopens, visitors will return to historically accurate adobe walls, strengthened flooring, and more thoughtful exhibits and room arrangements that more fully demonstrate how the home evolved alongside the City of El Paso.

During this restoration period, the Magoffin Home is closed to public tours. However, the historic Visitor Center building across the street remains open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., offering exhibits, videos, and a museum store. As part of the America250 celebration, the site is proud to host monthly children and adult cooking classes based on historic recipes, as well as a monthly lecture series held on the second-to-last Thursday of each month. We hope you will join us during this exciting period of preservation and return again when the fully restored mansion reopens to the public.

For questions about the Casa Magoffin Compañeros, programming, or the restoration itself, please contact Magoffin Home Site Manager Danielle Brissette at 915-533-5147 or Magoffin-Home@thc.texas.gov.

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