Mulcahy House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Mulcahy House in Harris County. Now settle in, because this one's about a man who knew how to climb. William Percival Mulcahy and his wife Mattie bought this house from the developers of Houston Heights in 1909.

Not a bad address to start with, and William was just getting warmed up. He began his career with the South Texas Commercial Bank in downtown Houston as a teller. A teller.

The man counting other people's money, balancing ledgers, handing out cash across a counter. He put in ten years doing exactly that kind of work. And by the time of his death in 1923, William Percival Mulcahy was president of Damon State Bank.

Teller to president. The marker doesn't spell out every step of that journey, but it doesn't have to. The destination says plenty.

Now the house itself, the Mulcahy House, it kept the family name for ninety years. Ninety. That's not loyalty, that's a statement.

And what a house to hold onto. It's built in the Dutch Colonial Revival style, and the first thing your eye goes to is that roof. A T-shaped, cross gambrel roof, with a front-facing projecting gambrel and minimal eave overhang.

The frame is clad in native cypress, which in a Texas summer is exactly the kind of detail that matters. Out front, the inset porch sits on square, paneled posts, and centered in that bay is a window of forty lights over one. Forty panes of glass catching whatever light Houston cares to offer on a given morning.

William started as a teller. Mattie and William picked this house together. And for ninety years, the family kept it.

Some houses just hold.

What the marker says

William Percival Mulcahy and his wife, Mattie, purchased this house from the developers of Houston Heights in 1909. Mr. Mulcahy began his 10-year career with the South Texas Commercial Bank in downtown Houston as a teller. At his death in 1923, he was president of Damon State Bank. Ownership of the Mulcahy House stayed in the family for 90 years. The Dutch Colonial Revival style home has a distinctive T-shaped, cross gambrel roof, a front-facing projecting gambrel with minimal eave overhang, and a native cypress clad frame. The inset front porch, supported by square, paneled posts, features the bay's central window of 40 lights over one. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2014