Norwood House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. Back in 1898, in Navasota, Grimes County, a man named Ewing Norwood was sitting pretty as president of the First National Bank. Now, when a bank president builds himself a house, you better believe he's not cutting corners.

He hired a local architect by the name of Ernest Lord, and Ernest Lord, well, he had a vision. What came out of that collaboration was the Norwood House, completed right there in 1898, built to serve as the first residence of Ewing and Mattie Norwood. Mattie, whose family name was Brosig, was part of this story from the very beginning.

Now, Ernest Lord designed this home with what they call Queen Anne influences. You can see it in the entry, you can see it in the porch detailing. There's a depressed arch over that entryway, and a balustrade sitting right above it, the kind of architectural touch that tells you somebody thought long and hard about how this house was going to present itself to the world.

Ernest Lord knew what he was doing. And the Norwoods, they knew what they had. That house stayed in the Norwood family for more than sixty years.

More than sixty years. Same family, same walls, same depressed arch greeting whoever came to the door. Some things in Texas, once they're built right, they just hold.

What the marker says

Built to serve as the first residence of Ewing and Mattie (Brosig) Norwood, this house was completed in 1898, while Ewing Norwood was president of the First National Bank of Navasota. Designed and built by local architect Ernest Lord, the home exhibits Queen Anne influences in the entry and porch detailing and features a depressed arch and a balustrade over the entryway. The house remained in the Norwood family for more than sixty years. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1984