Lyon House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. There's a Victorian house in Grayson County with a story that moves through German craftsmanship, hardware merchants, a soldier turned dairy farmer, and a man who just kept answering when duty called. This is the Lyon House.

Built before 1897, it was designed by a German-born architect named John Tollouch. Right out of the gate, this house had intention behind it. Victorian style, professional hand, built to last.

The first man to occupy it was George E. Hardwicke, a hardware merchant, born in 1855, who called it home until 1899. Then the house sat waiting.

It waited three years, in fact, until 1902, when a man named Dupont Lyon came along and purchased the property. Now here is where the story picks up pace. Lyon was born in 1876, and in 1902 he was an officer in the United States Army.

He bought this house, settled in Sherman, and then did something that surprises you a little: he became a dairy farmer and a lumberman. A man who knew military discipline turned his hands to the land. And the people of Sherman took notice, because they elected him mayor, a position he held from 1913 to 1915.

You might think that was the final chapter for Dupont Lyon. You would be wrong. When World War I came, Lyon joined the army again.

He attained the rank of Major before retiring in 1932. In the 1930s, between all that history settling into the walls, Lyon made minor repairs and additions to the house. Not a grand renovation.

Just a man tending what was his. Lyon passed in 1946. The house outlasted him, the way good houses do.

Then in 1974, Robert J. Tate purchased it and restored it. One architect, two soldiers, one hardware merchant, one mayor, one restorer.

The Lyon House, still standing in Grayson County, holding every one of them inside it.

What the marker says

Built before 1897, this Victorian house was designed by German-born John Tollouch and occupied by hardware merchant George E. Hardwicke (1855-1923) until 1899. The property was purchased in 1902 by Dupont Lyon (1876-1946), then an officer in the U. S. Army. He became a dairy farmer and lumberman after settling here, and served as mayor of Sherman (1913-15). Lyon joined the army again in World War I and attained the rank of Major before retiring in 1932. In the 1930s, Lyon made minor repairs and additions to the house. It was purchased and restored in 1974 by Robert J. Tate.