Highlands Mansion

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm happy to pass it along. Somewhere in Falls County, there stands a house that knows exactly what it is. The Highlands Mansion.

Built about 1898 to 1900 by a man named B. C. Clark, and from the moment it went up, it did not apologize for itself one bit.

Clark built it out of sturdy cypress, which alone tells you something about the man's intentions. Cypress doesn't fuss. Cypress lasts.

But Clark wasn't content to stop at sturdy. He went ahead and commissioned a stained leaded glass dome. And the windows, those came from Italy.

Italian imports, right there in Marlin, Texas, catching the light of the Gay Nineties like they had every right to. They did. The mansion became prominent in early Marlin society.

One of the showplaces of Texas at the turn of the century. Think about that phrase for a moment. Not one of the fine homes.

Not a notable residence. A showplace. The kind of place people pointed at.

Now, showplaces have a way of testing the people who inherit their legacy. Time is not gentle with leaded glass and cypress and ambition. But in 1964, Mr. and Mrs.

Lee E. Loeffler took that test on. They spent three years, 1964 to 1967, restoring the Highlands Mansion to what it once was.

The dome still catches the light. The Italian windows still hold their ground. And a house built to be seen is still, after all this time, worth the looking.

What the marker says

Built about 1898-1900 by B. C. Clark. Sturdy cypress; stained leaded Glass Dome, windows--Italian imports. Elegant Gay Nineties mansion prominent in early Marlin society and one of the showplaces of Texas at the turn of the century. RTHL - 1967 Incise in Base: Restored 1964-1967 by Mr. and Mrs. Lee E. Loeffler