Seaquist Home

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do it justice. Back in 1887, a reverend by the name of Thomas Broad put the first work into what would become one of Mason County's most remarkable structures. He started something, that's for certain, but he wouldn't be the one to finish it.

In 1891, a banker named E. M. Reynolds acquired the property and enlarged it, bringing in an architect named Richard E.

Grosse to take the work to another level entirely. And Grosse, well, he wasn't a man who did anything halfway. He handled the ornate stonecutting and the woodcarving himself.

The same pair of hands that drew up the plans turned around and worked the stone and shaped the wood. You don't see that every day. Then in 1919, the property sold again, this time to a Swedish immigrant named Oscar E.

Seaquist. And Oscar, he's the one who finally brought the whole thing home. He finished the structure.

After more than three decades of starts and expansions and one architect who wore every hat in the shop, it was Oscar Seaquist who saw it through. His family has owned and occupied it ever since. The house stands today as an example of fine workmanship and fine materials, and if you need proof of that ambition, just consider what's waiting on the third floor.

A ballroom. In Mason County, Texas. Somebody always dreamed big with this place, and eventually, somebody delivered.

What the marker says

In 1887 work was begun on this structure by the Rev. Thomas Broad. Banker E. M. Reynolds acquired (1891) and enlarged the house. The architect, Richard E. Grosse, also did the ornate stonecutting and woodcarving. Property was sold (1919) to Oscar E. Seaquist, a Swedish immigrant, who finished the structure, still owned and occupied by his family. Exemplifying fine workmanship and materials, the house features a third-floor ballroom. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1974