E.A. and Lydia Housewright House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the E.A. and Lydia Housewright House in Collin County. Pull up a chair, because this one house carried a whole town's worth of stories inside its walls. January 1901.

A young couple named Sadie and Bolivar Columbus Barrier, B.C. for short, purchased a one-acre lot on N. Ballard Avenue in Wylie from a man named James V. Russell.

Now, B.C. had come to Wylie with a specific purpose: to establish the First National Bank of Wylie. And here's the thing that'll make you sit up straight. At twenty-six years old, he was among the youngest bank presidents in the entire state of Texas.

Twenty-six. Running a bank. The man did not ease into adulthood.

The couple moved fast on the house too. They built a Queen Anne Cottage right there on that lot, probably working from a mail-order construction plan designed by George F. Barber.

And it was not a plain little box, either. Asymmetrical, one-and-a-half stories tall, topped with a hip-and-gable roof, finished in fish-scale wood shingles. The L-shaped porch came with doric columns and an original front door that is still standing there today.

Beautiful work. But the Barriers, for all their energy, did not stay long. By October 1903, they sold the house and moved on.

That's how it goes sometimes. Some people build the thing, and somebody else gets to live in it. The buyers were E.A. and Lydia Housewright, and that is whose name the house carries now.

The Housewrights had been living just a few blocks away in a smaller residence, with several of their adult children settled in houses nearby. So the family was already rooted in Wylie. They just needed more room.

E.A. came from notable stock. His father, Jichonias Housewright, born in 1811 and gone by 1894, had been a man of industry, owning gristmills and cotton gins. E.A. was Jichonias's second son, and he carved his own path.

He operated a livery stable in Wylie. He helped form the Wylie Cemetery Company. He was a stockholder and director of the First National Bank of Wylie, the very same bank B.C.

Barrier had come to town to build. He also served as a county bondsman. This was not a man who sat still.

But E.A. Housewright was born in 1844, and he did not get many years inside that Queen Anne Cottage. He died in 1905.

Lydia, born in 1850, followed in 1911. After both were gone, the house stayed in the family. Lydia's nephew, William McDonald, purchased it and lived there until 1923.

And McDonald left his own mark on Wylie, because he is the one credited with bringing electricity to the town. Then in 1930, a woman named Helena Borchardt Silvis purchased the property. Under her ownership, the lot was reduced from that original acre down to the half-acre it covers today.

She died in 1954, and the house passed again, this time to Mae and Carl Hicks. Mae was born in 1894, Carl in 1892. They stayed until 1974, and during those years they began repairs and restorations on the old place.

They saw what it was worth preserving. As one of the earliest surviving residences in Wylie, that house has been holding early Wylie history inside its fish-scale shingles and original front door for well over a century now. Bank presidents, livery men, the man who flipped on the lights, and families who knew enough to keep it standing.

Not bad for one acre on N. Ballard Avenue.

What the marker says

In January 1901, Sadie (Cook) (1882-1976) and Bolivar Columbus (B.C.) Barrier (1874-1934) purchased a one-acre lot on N. Ballard Avenue from James V. Russell. B.C. had moved to establish the First National Bank of Wylie and, at 26, was among the youngest bank presidents in the state. The couple quickly built this Queen Anne Cottage house, probably using a mail-order construction plan designed by George F. Barber. The asymmetrical one-and-a-half-story house is topped with a hip-and-gable roof and finished in fish-scale wood shingles. The L-shaped porch features doric columns and the original front door. The Barriers only lived in Wylie a short time and sold the house in October 1903 to E.A. (1844-1905) and Lydia (1850-1911) Housewright. The family had previously lived in a smaller residence a few blocks away, with several of their adult children living in houses nearby. E.A. Housewright came from a prominent family whose father, Jichonias (1811-1894), owned gristmills and cotton gins. E.A., his second son, operated a livery stable in Wylie and helped form the Wylie Cemetery Company. He also was a stockholder and director of the First National Bank of Wylie, and a county bondsman. After E.A. and Lydia's deaths, the house remained in the family. William McDonald, Lydia's nephew, purchased the house and lived there until 1923. McDonald is credited with bringing electricity to Wylie. In 1930, Helena Borchardt Silvis purchased the property. Under her ownership, the property was reduced to its current size of one-half acre. When she died in 1954, Mae (1894-1982) and Carl (1892-1963) Hicks purchased the house and remained until 1974. They began repairs and restorations of the property. As one of the earliest surviving residences in the community, the house embodies early Wylie history. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK - 2023