Kilbride-Barkley House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Kilbride-Barkley House in Matagorda County. Now settle in, because even a house can carry a story worth telling. Edward John and Ann Elizabeth Kilbride, the kind of folks a town leans on, prominent ranchers, prominent merchants, prominent civic leaders, built themselves a classical revival style house in 1910 and 1911.

That's not a cabin, not a farmhouse. That's a statement. And the house made good on it, standing as a fine example of the large scale residential properties that folks with means and vision were raising in the early twentieth century.

But here's the detail that gets me every time. That elaborate rear porch design, the one that sets this house apart, came about because of where the house sits, right there in proximity to the bay. The bay shaped the building.

You live close enough to something that big, it starts making decisions for you. The Kilbrides raised a daughter in that house, Margaret Kilbride Barkley, and when 1939 came around, Margaret inherited the property. By then the house had already seen plenty of living, and it wasn't done.

It became the site of many social events, the kind of gatherings a house like that seems to invite. The Barkley family held onto it, kept it in the family name, all the way until 1992. Over eighty years from the day Edward John and Ann Elizabeth broke ground, that house was still standing, still belonging to the line they started.

Some things get built to last. This was one of them.

What the marker says

Prominent ranchers, merchants, and civic leaders Edward John and Ann Elizabeth (Holt) Kilbride built this classical revival style house in 1910-11. The house is a good example of large scale residential properties built in the early 20th century. Its elaborate rear porch design resulted from its proximity to the bay. The Kilbrides' daughter, Margaret Kilbride Barkley, inherited the house in 1939. The site of many social events, the house remained in the Barkley family until 1992. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1994