Paul Louis Wakefield, was born in 1895. He was.journalist, politician, and soldier, son of John Henry and Della (Hogg) Wakefield, was born at Lovelady, Texas, on May 6, 1895. He attended the public schools there and studied at the University of Texas, where he majored in journalism. He served as an enlisted man in the United States Army in France in World War I. As a newspaperman immediately after the war, Wakefield was with the United Press in Paris and New York. He was on the staff of the Houston Chronicle for ten years and was Texas correspondent for the New York Herald-Tribune during the time of Stanley Walker’s editorship. He also wrote special correspondence for the old New York World. In 1927 he was appointed first lieutenant in the Texas National Guard. Over the years he rose to the grade of major general, and in 1949 he was appointed state director of selective service; he retired in 1955. Wakefield served as an aide to governors Ross S. Sterling and Coke R. Stevenson. He was appointed to the planning board of the Public Works Administration in 1934, was at one time a member of the staff of Vice President John Nance Garner, and served as an assistant to Jesse Holman Jones. Wakefield was married on January 24, 1928, to Eleanor L. Wilson; they had one son. The marriage ended in divorce, and on December 22, 1946, Wakefield married Miss William Lois LaLonde in San Antonio. Wakefield died in Austin on March 23, 1961, and was buried in Austin Memorial Park
After returning to Austin after World War I, Wakefield decided he would build a home similar to what he had seen in the french countryside (Normandy) during the war. He and his good friend Peter Mansbendel built this home in 1926 and 1927. It has many elements that are very similar to Peter’s home in Hyde park. One carving that stands out is a caricature near rhe front door of the home. (Unknown if it represents Wakefield but most likely it does) Also above the door is a hand carved sign that says Normandy farmhouse…