Hodges-Hardy House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how Duane tells it to you. Back in 1893, two local builders by the names of W. Lee Moore and James A.

Richolt set to work on a house in Wichita County. They weren't just throwing up four walls and a roof, either. They took the better part of two years, finishing up in 1895, and what they left behind was a proper late Victorian style house, the kind that makes you slow down when you drive past.

A wraparound porch. Eastlake detailing. The sort of place that says someone had plans.

That someone was Samuel H. Hodges, an attorney and real estate investor who commissioned the whole thing. Now, Hodges held onto the property for about fifteen years before selling it in 1910 to a man named Dan Hardy.

And Dan Hardy was not a man who did just one thing. Merchant, oilman, landowner. He had range, you might say.

He and his wife Myrtle became prominent philanthropists and civic leaders in the community, the kind of people a town leans on. The house stayed in the Hardy family for over seventy years. Over seventy years of one family, one porch, one set of memories layered on top of another.

Moore and Richolt built something that lasted. Hodges gave it a start. But the Hardys, well, they made it a home.

What the marker says

Local builders W. Lee Moore and James A. Richolt constructed this residence in 1893-95 for Samuel H. Hodges, an attorney and real estate investor. The late Victorian style house has a wraparound porch and Eastlake detailing. Hodges sold the property in 1910 to Dan Hardy, a merchant, oilman, and landowner. Hardy and his wife Myrtle were prominent philthropists and civic leaders. The house remained in their family for over 70 years. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1984.