The Houston House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Houston House in Cooke County. Now, some houses just stand there. This one makes a statement.

Mrs. Giles Houston, born Frances Dougherty, was one of the heirs to a Cooke County fortune, and in 1898 she decided that fortune deserved a proper home. What she got was a magnificent example of frontier Victorian architecture, and that phrase, magnificent, that's the marker's word.

I'm inclined to agree. She brought in J. G.

Garrett to draw up the plans. Garrett, born in 1858 and gone by 1919, was a local man credited with the designs of many fine Gainesville structures, so he knew what he was doing. The contractor, W.

J. Snelling, made sure those plans became something real. And real is the word.

The walls are solid brick. Not a facade, not a suggestion of permanence, solid brick all the way through. Inside, twelve rooms spread out across the place, and nine fireplaces waited to take the edge off a North Texas winter.

Nine. That's not counting rooms, that's a philosophy. Then there's the woodwork.

Oak, cherry, and birds'-eye maple embellish the interiors, and if you know birds'-eye maple, you know it catches the light in a way that makes a room feel like it's alive. Frances Dougherty Houston built something that outlasted the fortune that paid for it, and on the Texas plains, that's about the finest kind of legacy there is.

What the marker says

Mrs. Giles (Frances Dougherty) Houston, one of the heirs to a Cooke County fortune, built this magnificent example of frontier Victorian architecture in 1898. J. G. Garrett (1858-1919), a local man credited with the plans for many fine Gainesville structures, served as architect. Contractor was W. J. Snelling. Walls are solid brick. There are twelve rooms with nine fireplaces. Oak, cherry, and birds'-eye maple woods embellish the interiors. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966.