Lott House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Somewhere in Wood County, there's a house that carries two family names in its bones, and the story starts the way a lot of good Texas stories do: with somebody deciding to build something that lasts. Angus and Lena Beaird began construction of this house in 1918.

They didn't rush it. The thing wasn't completed until the early 1920s, and when you see what they put together, you understand why it took that kind of patience. Prairie School style influences, classical details, a hipped roof with dormers sitting up top like they're keeping watch, and out front, a central porch with boxed columns and a pedimented entry.

That's not a house you throw up over a weekend. That is a statement. Then came 1928, and the Beairds sold the house to Howard and Vivian Lott.

Now, the marker makes a point of telling you who the Lotts were, and it doesn't do that lightly. Leaders, it says, in the development of Mineola and of Wood County itself. That's the kind of line that carries weight.

The house passed from the builders to the builders of a community, and it took their name with it. The Lott House. Still standing in Wood County, still wearing those dormers and that pedimented porch, still telling anybody who cares to look that some things are worth doing right and worth doing to last.

What the marker says

Angus and Lena Beaird began construction of this house in 1918; it was completed in the ealry 1920s. The Beairds sold the house in 1928 to Howard and Vivian Lott, who were leaders in the development of Mineola and Wood County. The house exhibits Prairie School style influences with classical details, including a hipped roof with dormers and a central front porch with boxed columns and a pedimented entry. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1996