DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Barreda House in Cameron County. Now, some houses just sit there. And then there are houses that announce themselves.
The Barreda House is the second kind. Architect Ben Clark designed it, and it was built between 1928 and 1929 by the firm of Barnes and Kenny. The client was the family of Celestino Pardo Barreda, a man born in 1858 who lived all the way to 1953.
Think about that. That is a life that spans an era you can barely hold in your head. Celestino Pardo Barreda was a native of Spain who came to Texas in 1872.
He built a mercantile business, and from there he became an influential commercial leader in the area, with a hand in banking and in agriculture. A man who arrived in Texas and planted roots so deep they hold to this day. And the house reflects that kind of permanence.
Two stories of buff brick, built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Twisted cast stone columns. Iron balcony railings.
A Mission parapet up top. And a sunroom with arched wood casement windows that I imagine catches the Texas light just so. It is a house with personality, with detail that somebody thought about and cared about.
And here is the part that lands the story for me. The marker tells us the house has remained in the Barreda family for more than sixty years. Celestino came to Texas from Spain in 1872 with nothing but ambition and a future to build.
By 1928, he had a house that Ben Clark designed and Barnes and Kenny built to last. And last it did.
What the marker says
This house was designed by architect Ben Clark and built in 1928-1929 for the firm of Barnes and Kenny for the family of Celestino Pardo Barreda (1858-1953). A 2-story buff brick Spanish Colonial Revival style house, it features twisted cast stone columns, iron balcony railings, a Mission parapet, and a sunroom with arched wood casement windows. Barreda, a native of Spain who came to Texas in 1872, owned a mercantile business and became an influential area commercial leader involved in banking and agriculture. The house has remained in the Barreda Family for more than 60 years.