Davis House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Davis House. Now, some stories are about battles and cattle drives and men with guns. But some of the best ones are about a house.

Just a house, sitting quiet on its lot, holding onto time like it knows something you don't. This is one of those. Walter Wright Davis, born in 1879, and his wife Florence Weathers Davis, born in 1880, built this place in 1916.

And right from the start, it wasn't quite one thing or another. That's not a flaw, mind you. That's character.

The house sits right at the crossroads of two distinct styles. Part craftsman bungalow, with those exposed rafter ends reaching out past the roofline, those knee braces doing their honest work at the eaves, those divided light upper window sashes letting in the Texas sky in little panes. All the hallmarks of a style that said: we are practical people, and we are not ashamed of it.

But there's something else going on here too. A lean toward the Colonial Revival, a little more formal, a little more composed. The house holds both of those impulses together, which, if you've ever known a family, might not surprise you at all.

Then comes 1927. Somebody, maybe it was Walter, maybe it was Florence, maybe both of them standing in the yard looking up and deciding it was time, made some changes. Two large dormers went up.

The original big porch, the kind made for sitting and watching the road, came down and was replaced by a small entry. Just enough to get you inside, no more. Walter Davis died in 1933.

Florence lived on until 1968, long enough to watch the world change more times than most people care to count. And through all of it, this house kept standing, doing what good houses do, which is remember. The exposed rafters, the knee braces, the dormers added in 1927, all of it still there, still telling you exactly what 1920s domestic architecture looked and felt like in Nolan County, Texas.

Some things, if you build them right, just refuse to let go.

What the marker says

Built in 1916 by Walter Wright Davis (1879-1933) and his wife Florence Weathers Davis (1880-1968), this house represents a transition from a craftsman style bungalow to a Colonial Revival style structure. The exposed rafter ends, knee braces, and divided light upper window sashes illustrate typical 1920's domestic architecture. Modifications in 1927 included the addition of two large dormers and replacement of the original large porch with a small entry. Recorded Texas Historical Landmark, 1992.