Goodman House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker at 426 Westmoreland Avenue tells it, far as Duane can relay. Now, every good house has a story behind it, and this one starts not in Houston but in Corsicana, where Randolph Peyton Goodman Jr. came into the world in 1884. He'd eventually make his way to the big city, but first, in 1904, he married Alamo Roberta Patton, a native of San Antonio born in 1886.

That's a couple with range right there. Corsicana meets San Antonio, and they both end up in Houston. By 1907 they'd settled in Houston, and Randolph got to work selling hardware and sporting goods for C.L. and Theo Bering Jr.

He had a nose for the hardware trade, apparently, because by 1910 he'd joined the F.W. Heitmann Company. He didn't walk in and take over, mind you.

He started as a clerk. But he was movin up, and by 1917 he'd climbed all the way to sales manager. Meanwhile, the family was growin.

Virginia arrived in 1907, Hazel in 1911, and Randolph III in 1913. Three children. One Houston house that was no longer cutting it.

So in November 1916, the Goodmans purchased the lot at 426 Westmoreland Avenue and contracted with a builder named John Wrench to put up something proper. They paid six percent down, and Theresa Heitmann Lorenzen, Vice President of the F.W. Heitmann Company, financed the rest for six years.

That's right, the vice president of the very company Randolph worked for held the note on his home. You can imagine that motivated a man to show up on time. Within months, Wrench had constructed what the marker calls a single-family pier-and-beam colonial revival house with craftsman elements applied in an American foursquare form.

Two and a half stories. Shed-roof dormers. Wide overhanging eaves.

Clapboard siding. Five-over-one wood-sash double-hung windows across the main facade. And out front, an L-shaped covered porch held up by five box columns on brick piers.

It was a house that meant something. Randolph kept risin at Heitmann. In January 1919, he was elected a director of the company.

And that July, he paid off his loan. Six years of financing, cleared. The house was his.

After 1923 he moved on from Heitmann, first to the E.L. Wilson Hardware Company, then to the Rose-Hoskins Supply Co., where he held the offices of vice president, secretary-treasurer, and part owner. The hardware trade had been very good to Randolph Peyton Goodman Jr.

Both Randolph and Alamo Roberta died in 1951. They'd shared that house on Westmoreland Avenue for decades. Twelve years after they were gone, the house was sold out of the family.

The dormers you see on it today were added in 1965. The Goodman house now stands listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing structure in the Westmoreland Historic District. A clerk who became a sales manager, then a director, then a part owner, who paid six percent down on a lot and trusted a builder named Wrench to get it right.

Seems like Wrench held up his end.

What the marker says

Randolph Peyton Goodman Jr. (1884-1951) was born in Corsicana. In 1904, he married Alamo Roberta Patton (1886-1951), a native of San Antonio. They moved to Houston by 1907, where Randolph first worked for C.L. and Theo Bering Jr. selling hardware and sporting goods. By 1910, he had joined the F.W. Heitmann Co., where he moved up from clerk to sales manager by 1917. The young couple had three children: Virginia (1907-1993), Hazel (1911-2002) and Randolph III (1913-1979). Needing a larger home in which to raise their young family, in November 1916, the Goodmans purchased the lot at 426 Westmoreland Avenue and contracted with John Wrench to build this house. They paid 6% down, and the rest was financed for six years by Theresa Heitmann Lorenzen, Vice President of the F.W. Heitmann Co. Within months, Wrench constructed a single-family pier-and-beam colonial revival house with craftsman elements applied in an American foursquare form. The two-and-a-half-story house features shed-roof dormers, wide overhanging eaves, clapboard siding and five-over-one wood-sash double-hung windows on the main façade. The L-shaped covered front porch is supported by five box columns on brick piers. Goodman was elected as a director of the F.W. Heitmann Company in January 1919 and paid off his loan that July. After 1923, he worked for the E.L. Wilson Hardware Company, followed by many years with the Rose-Hoskins Supply Co., where he held the offices of vice president, secretary-treasurer and part owner. Twelve years after the Goodmans died, the house was sold out of the family, and the dormers were added in 1965. The Goodman house is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing structure in the Westmoreland Historic District. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK - 2023