DUANE
Get the App
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. You're lookin' at a house in McKinney that's been home to not one but two men who left their marks on Texas government, and the building itself has a few things to say while we're at it. James Rowland Gough was a McKinney attorney, born in 1860, and in 1898 he set out to build something worthy of his standing.
What he raised up was a Victorian-style home with Queen Anne detailing: the kind of place that turns heads on a quiet street, all those ornate flourishes saying something about the man who commissioned it without him having to say a word himself. Gough didn't just practice law and build pretty houses, though. He served as state representative and senator from this area, carving out a real presence in Texas politics before he died in 1916.
Two years after that, the house changed hands. Wallace Hughston bought it in 1918, and if the house thought it was done bein' part of big things, it was mistaken. Hughston turned out to be every bit as busy in public life as the man who built the place.
He was elected to the Texas Senate, and he kept right on going; serving with the Texas Railroad Commission, the State Board of Education, and the Federal Housing Authority. That is a résumé that covers a lot of Texas ground. So what you've got here is one elegant Victorian house with Queen Anne detailing that sheltered, at different chapters of its life, two men who shaped the way this state ran itself.
Some houses just seem to attract that kind of ambition. This one's got the porches and the history to prove it.
What the marker says
James Rowland Gough (1860-1916), a McKinney attorney, built this residence in 1898. He served as state representative and senator from this area. The home was sold to Wallace Hughston in 1918. Active in government, Hughston was elected to the Texas Senate and later served with the Texas Railroad Commission, State Board of Education and the Federal Housing Authority. The house is a good example of the Victorian style with Queen Anne detailing. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1979