Proctor House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some houses just stand there. And then some houses plant themselves on a corner and dare you not to notice them.

The Proctor House in Victoria, Texas, is very much the second kind. The man behind it, Venable Bland Proctor, was a native of Victoria County. Born in 1862, he came up in this part of Texas, and the law ran in the family.

In 1887, he joined his father's law firm, over in nearby DeWitt County. Spent those early professional years there, learning the trade alongside his father, building a reputation. Then, in 1898, Proctor made his move back.

He came to Victoria. And two years after that, in 1900, he purchased this particular piece of property. Now, a man doesn't buy land like that without a vision already forming.

He soon had a home built on it, a Colonial Revival style home, and he built it for his wife Fannie Elizabeth, she was a White before she married, and for their children. What went up on that lot was something Victoria would not forget. Two-story Classical porches.

Doric columns rising with that particular dignity that Doric columns have always had. Second floor balconies looking out over the town like they owned it, which, in a sense, they did. Venable Bland Proctor lived until 1936.

The house he raised for his family became a landmark in Victoria, and it carries that title to this day. Some things you build for your family. Some things you build for a city.

Every now and then, you manage both at once.

What the marker says

A native of Victoria County, Venable Bland Proctor (1862-1936) joined his father's law firm in nearby DeWitt County in 1887. Proctor moved to Victoria in 1898 and purchased this piece of property in 1900. He soon had this Colonial Revival style home built for his wife Fannie Elizabeth (White), and their children. A landmark in Victoria, the Proctor House features two-story Classical porches with Doric columns and second floor balconies. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985