Holman-Seifert Homestead

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. This is the story of the Holman-Seifert Homestead, out in Colorado County, Texas. Now settle in, because this one's got layers.

John T. Holman came to Texas from Virginia in 1837, and whatever he was looking for, it seems like Texas delivered. The man built this house about 1875, and by that point he had already lived quite a life.

Married three times. Eighteen children. Fortunes, plural, in cattle and cotton.

John T. Holman, born in 1818, died in 1900, and he packed a considerable amount of living into those years. The house he built carried that Greek Revival exterior, the kind of place that says someone wanted the world to know they had arrived.

Then Holman's heirs sold it in 1901, just a year after he passed, to a man named John Banse. John Banse held onto it for a spell, then sold it in 1907 to Anton Seifert, a local gin owner. Now here's where the plot takes a turn.

Frank Banse, son of John, bought the house back in 1917. And Frank, well, Frank had his own ideas about the place. He razed five rooms in the rear and made additions that altered that Greek Revival exterior Holman had put up.

What had stood was changed. Then 1953 rolls around, and Mr. and Mrs. Edward Seifert step into the story.

They bought the house, restored the portion that remained from the original, and built an addition to the north. So in the end, through fortunes and families and razed rooms and restorations, the house is still standing. John T.

Holman built something in 1875 that people were still fighting to save nearly a century later. That's not nothing.

What the marker says

John T. Holman (1818-1900), who came from Virginia to Texas in 1837, built this house about 1875. Married three times, he had 18 children and made fortunes in cattle and cotton. Heirs sold the house in 1901 to John Banse, who sold (1907) to Anton Seifert, a local gin owner. Frank Banse, son of John, bought it in 1917, razed five rooms in the rear, and made additions altering the Greek Revival exterior. In 1953, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Seifert bought the house, restored the portion that remained from the original, and built an addition to the north.