W. W. Browning House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just as it stands. William Westcoat Browning was born in South Carolina in 1808, and by the time the 1850s rolled around, he had made up his mind that Texas was where he and his family belonged. So he packed up Elizabeth, her maiden name Gilmer, and their children, and they made the move.

Now, when a man relocates his whole household to a new land, he tends to want a home that says something. And what the Brownings built said plenty. Starting in 1856 and finishing up by 1858, they raised a Greek Revival plantation house right there in Washington County.

That style wasn't born in Texas, and the marker doesn't pretend otherwise. It was the architecture that early Texas planters carried with them from their former homes in the southern states, and the Brownings brought their share of it. Step inside and the woodwork catches your eye first, because it isn't what it appears to be.

That's false graining, painted to look like something it isn't, and done well enough to make you look twice. Step outside and look up, and there's a widow's walk perched at the top of the house, the kind of feature that tends to make people go quiet and thoughtful for a moment. And wrapping the front, two full stories of porches, the kind built for long evenings and longer conversations.

William Westcoat Browning died in 1871, but that house he built for his family in 1856 to 1858 is still standing as a fine example of what those early planters brought with them when they came to make Texas home.

What the marker says

A native of South Carolina, William Westcoat Browning (1808-1871) moved to Texas in the 1850s with his wife, Elizabeth (Gilmer), and their children. This Greek Revival plantation home was built for them in 1856-58. The house is a fine example of the architectural style brought by early Texas planters from their former homes in the southern states. Outstanding features include the false graining on the interior woodwork, the widow's walk, and the two-story porches.