Haden House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, out here in Fannin County, some houses just have a way of holdin' on. The Haden House is one of those.

Built in 1894, commissioned by local merchant J. B. Haden and his wife Elizabeth, and put together by craftsmen going by the names Martin and Krause.

Two names, no fanfare, just skill. And friend, that skill shows. They built the place out of cypress, which already tells you something about the care involved.

Then they went and dressed it up with ornate gingerbread trim on the outside and fine woodwork all through the interior. Late Victorian architecture, the marker calls it, and you can picture it, all that careful ornamentation, every detail deliberate. Now here's the part that gets me.

J. B. and Elizabeth Haden didn't just build a house and move on. That house stayed in the Haden family.

Not for a decade, not for a generation. It remained in the Haden family until 1963. Nearly seventy years of the same name on the deed.

Martin and Krause built something in 1894 that a family held onto, tight, through everything the twentieth century had to throw at it. That cypress held. That gingerbread held.

Some things, when they're built right, just do.

What the marker says

Built 1894 by craftsmen Martin and Krause for local merchant, J. B. Haden, and wife Elizabeth. Remained in Haden family until 1963. Cypress construction with ornate gingerbread trim. Interior has fine woodwork. Late Victorian architecture. RTHL - 1966