Astin-Porter Home

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, out here in Brazos County, there's a house that carries more than a century of stories in its walls, and the marker gives us just enough to feel the weight of it. It was built for Onah Astin, born a Ward, wife of cotton planter James H.

Astin. James passed in 1897, and Onah, she carried on. Construction on this house began in 1901, and two years later it was done, standing proud as only a Classical Revival home can stand.

Whoever Onah hired to draw up the plans, she didn't go local. She went to Waco, to the firm of Howard Messer and S. Wemyss Smith, and those gentlemen delivered.

Two-story gallery, Corinthian columns out front. Now if you know your column orders, Corinthian is the fancy one. The one that says, we are not in a hurry, and we are not without means.

Onah lived to see 1944, and somewhere along the way this house had become part of her. Then, in 1946, a planter by the name of Holland Porter purchased the home, and during his ownership additions were made to the structure. The house grew with new hands on the deed, the way good houses tend to do.

Cotton country built it. Two planters claimed it. And those Corinthian columns are still out there in Brazos County, holding up a gallery that's watched the world change around it more than once.

What the marker says

Built for Onah (Ward) Astin (d. 1944), the wife of cotton planter James H. Astin (d. 1897), this house was designed by the Waco firm of Howard Messer and S. Wemyss Smith. Construction began in 1901 and was completed two years later. The exterior of the Classical Revival residence features a two-story gallery with Corinthian columns. Holland Porter, a planter, purchased the home in 1946, and additions were made to the structure during his ownership. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1980