James Lafayette and Eliza Pitts Malone House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the James Lafayette and Eliza Pitts Malone House out in Hays County. Now settle in, because this one's got pioneer roots, a big family, and a house that couldn't quite make up its mind about what it wanted to be. Back in 1891 and 1892, James L. and Eliza Malone built themselves a home out in the Stringtown area, east of San Marcos.

The Malones were among the early pioneer families in that neck of the woods, and they needed the space. Sixteen children. You heard that right.

Sixteen. Whatever else you want to say about the Malones, they were not a quiet household. The house they built to hold all that living was a Victorian Queen Anne, dressed up with an L-shaped floor plan, a two-story porch, chamfered columns with jigsawn brackets, turned balusters, and a gabled shingled roof.

It was a house that had something to say, and it said it loudly. But nothing stays the same forever, does it. In 1906, following James' death, the house was sold out of the Malone family.

Twenty years passed. Then in 1926, a couple named S. A. and Lellye McGehee Perkins got hold of the place and decided to do some redecorating.

They modified that Victorian Queen Anne into a classical revival style. Different bones, different look, different conversation entirely. Now here's where the story turns back on itself.

Come 1996, a renovation brought the house back to its earlier appearance, all those chamfered columns and jigsawn brackets and turned balusters restored to their rightful place. The house had traveled a long road through time, through families, through fashions, and ended up right back where it started. Some houses, it turns out, know exactly what they are.

What the marker says

This house was built in 1891-92 for James L. and Eliza Malone. The Malones, parents of 16 children, were among the early pioneer families in the Stringtown area east of San Marcos. the house was sold out of the Malone family in 1906 following James' death. In 1926, the Victorian Queen Anne dwelling was modified to classical revival style by S. A. and Lellye McGehee Perkins. Returned to its earlier appearance in a 1996 renovation, the house features an L-shaped floor plan with a 2-story porch, chamfered columns with jigsawn brackets, turned balusters, and a gabled shingled roof. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1996