Giddings-Stone House

Duane's take

The way I tell it, I'm going by what the official marker says, so let's see what it has to say about this one. Now, some houses just sit on a piece of land. And then some houses carry a name that echoes across the whole state of Texas.

The Giddings-Stone House, standing in Washington County, is that second kind. This house was completed in 1870, and it was built for a man who was, by any measure, a lot of things at once. Jabez Giddings, born in 1814, was a Brenham banker, a lawyer, and a landowner.

Prominent, the marker calls him, and that word is doing some honest work here. Jabez passed in 1878, and his wife Ann, born in 1822, outlived him by many years, not passing until 1902. The house was built for both of them, and it shows the ambition of people who intended to stay.

Now, the marker does tell us one more thing about Jabez Giddings, and it's worth letting sink in a beat. Giddings, Texas, is named for him. The man put his mark on more than one piece of this state.

After Jabez and Ann, the house passed to their daughter, Mary Louise, and her husband, Heber Stone. And Heber was not exactly a stranger to prominence either. His father was Dewitt Stone, the Mayor of Galveston.

So when you look at who built this house and who carried it forward, you are looking at a family tree rooted deep in Texas history. Now let's talk about the house itself, because it earns its own attention. It is a late example of the Greek Revival style, and it features a center passage plan.

Out front, a five-bay, two-story porch stands on Doric columns, the kind of columns that say, quietly but firmly, that the people inside meant business. Later in the 19th century, the house received some modifications. Metal balusters went up on the second floor.

A side porch with smaller columns was added. A servants wing was built at the rear. The house grew and changed, the way all living things do when they're occupied by real families over real decades.

The Giddings-Stone House is a place where the Greek Revival met the Texas frontier, where a banker and lawyer's legacy got handed down through a daughter and her husband and kept on standing. Some houses just sit on a piece of land. This one earned the right to a story.

What the marker says

This house was completed in 1870 for prominent Brenham banker, lawyer, and landowner Jabez Giddings (1814-1878) (for whom Giddings, Texas, is named) and his wife Ann (1822-1902). It was later owned by their daughter, Mary Louise, and her husband, Heber Stone, the son of Galveston Mayor Dewitt Stone. It is a late example of the Greek revival style and features a center passage plan and a five-bay, two-story porch with Doric columns. Late 19th-century modifications include metal balusters on the second floor, a side porch with smaller columns, and servants wing at the rear.