Gingerbread House

Duane's take

Here's how the marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Somewhere in Nacogdoches County there stands a house that earned itself a name, and once you hear what went into building it, you'll understand why that name stuck. They call it the Gingerbread House.

Built about 1895, this place went up in the Victorian style, and whoever commissioned it was not interested in doing things halfway. Not even a little bit. The builders reached for heart pine, that dense and stubborn wood that laughs at the years, and they paired it with other fine materials throughout.

The hardware? Brass. Not just functional, not just there to hold a door shut, but brass, chosen with intention, chosen to catch the light.

Now, a lot of houses from that era had a porch. This one had porches. Plural.

As in, more than one, as in you had options about where to sit and watch the world go by. And then there was the trim. Carved skirt boards.

Carved fascia boards. Carved cornice boards. Every edge of this house treated like it deserved to be something worth looking at.

Ornate details layered on top of ornate details. The kind of craftsmanship that makes you slow down when you drive past, maybe even pull over. Now, a house like that, if it isn't tended to, the years will take their toll.

But the C. V. Lindseys stepped in and restored it, and because of that, what was built about 1895 is still standing there in Nacogdoches County, every carved board and brass fitting making the case that some things are worth saving.

What the marker says

Built about 1895. Victorian architecture. Heart pine and other fine materials used, including brass hardware. Many porches; carved skirt, fascia and cornice boards. Other ornate trim details. Restored by the C. V. Lindseys Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965