Phillips-Sale House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. This is the Phillips-Sale House, Victoria County, and it's got more layers to it than a good brisket. Pull up a chair — we're goin' back a ways.

Alexander Hamilton Phillips was born in New York in 1804, and by 1837 he had made his way to Texas — which, at that point, was still its own republic, thank you very much. He wasn't just passin' through. Phillips served in the Congress of the Republic of Texas, and then kept right on serving in the Legislature of the State of Texas when statehood came.

A man who bridged two eras of Texas governance, runnin' his law practice and making himself a fixture in Victoria by the 1840s. Then, in 1851, he decided it was time to put down roots in brick and mortar — literally. He hired a local building contractor by the name of Richard Owens to build this house.

And here's where you sit with a moment of weight before you move on: those bricks were made by slaves and fired at Owens' brickyard on the Guadalupe River. That's the foundation this house sits on — in every sense of the word. The house rose up out of that labor and became, the marker tells us, a center of social activity in Victoria.

And you want proof? In 1857, Sam Houston himself — in the thick of his campaign for Governor — came through and attended a ball and a reception right here. Stepped out onto that front porch and gave a speech.

Sam Houston. On this porch. Let that settle for a second.

Now, Phillips lived until 1880, and the house carried on. In 1893, an attorney named Samuel Dabney purchased the place and brought in a noted local architect — Jules Leffland — to give it a remodel. Leffland made some changes that you can still see today, most notably applying stucco right over that original brick exterior.

It was the 1890s, and Colonial Revival architecture was havin' its moment, and Leffland knew what he was doin'. Then comes the man who gives the house the second half of its name. Walter Wynne Sale — born in 1887, a medical doctor, a decorated World War I veteran — bought the property in 1932.

He passed in 1967, but the house has remained in his family. And what a house it is to hold onto: a broad two-story porch with Classical columns, a front entry dressed with sidelights and an elliptically arched transom. New York bricks, Guadalupe River clay, a governor's speech, a remodel chasing architectural fashion, and a doctor-veteran who kept it all standing.

The Phillips-Sale House has been holding Victoria's stories for a long, long time.

What the marker says

New York native Alexander Hamilton Phillips (1804-1880) moved to Texas in 1837. He served in both the Congress of the Republic of Texas and the Legislature of the State of Texas. He moved his law practice to Victoria in the 1840s, and in 1851 hired local building contractor Richard Owens to build this house. Constructed of bricks made by slaves and fired at Owens' brickyard on the Guadalupe River, the house became a center of social activity in Victoria. During his 1857 campaign for Governor, Sam Houston attended a ball and reception here and made a speech from the front porch. Attorney Samuel Dabney purchased the house in 1893 and hired noted local architect Jules Leffland to remodel it. Leffland's changes, which included the application of stucco over the original brick exterior, reflect the popular interest in Colonial Revival architecture during the 1890s. Walter Wynne Sale (1887-1967), a medical doctor and decorated World War I veteran, bought the property in 1932, and it has remained in his family. Among the house's prominent features are a broad two-story porch with Classical columns, and a front entry with sidelights and elliptically arched transom. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967