DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just along for the ride. Now, if you ever find yourself rolling through Greenville, Hunt County, keep your eyes open, because there is a house on the landscape that does not whisper. It speaks.
It has been speaking since 1914, when William R. J. Camp, a respected Greenville banker, and his wife Dora built themselves a home that said exactly what it meant to say.
Two stories of brick. Classical revival. And when I say impressive, I mean the kind of impressive that makes you slow the car down without quite knowing why.
Giant Ionic columns march across the front of that house, and if that weren't enough, they show up again in triplicate right there flanking the entry steps. Three columns, standing at attention, just to welcome you to the door. Now that is a banker's sense of proportion.
But the columns are only the opening act. You've got the side gables giving the roofline a sense of dignity. You've got window details done right.
You've got a stately second floor balcony where I imagine the view of Greenville looked pretty fine on a clear evening. And then there is the porte cochere on the east side, that covered carriage entry that tells you the people who built this place thought of everything. The Camp family held onto that home all the way through the late 1920s.
And the house itself, well, it is still standing there in Greenville, brick and columns and all, still making its case. Some buildings ask to be noticed. This one never had to ask.
What the marker says
Constructed in 1914, this was the home of respected Greenville banker William R. J. Camp and his wife, Dora. The impressive two-story brick classical revival home features giant Ionic columns along the front and in triplicate flanking the entry steps. Also featured are the side gables and a porte cochere at the east side, as well as the window details and the stately second floor balcony. The Camp family owned the home until the late 1920s. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1987