Warren-Futrell House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Warren-Futrell House in Upshur County. Now, some houses just sit there. This one speaks.

Built in 1912 for Daisie Lee and James R. Warren, two of Gilmer's own civic leaders, this place drew its inspiration from the Prairie School of architecture and the Arts and Crafts movement of the early twentieth century. And you can still see it, if you know what you're lookin' for.

Those overhanging eaves with the exposed rafter ends. The short Ionic columns standing proud on the first-floor porch. Details that don't happen by accident.

Details that somebody chose, deliberately, because they believed a house ought to mean something. The Warrens held onto it for nearly a decade, then in 1921 they sold the house to a man named T. H.

Glezen. Now here's where the story gets interesting. Glezen didn't sell it.

He traded it. Traded it, like you might trade a fine horse at a county fair, to businessman Frank L. Futrell and his wife Iona, born a Cotton, in 1934.

And the Futrells, well, they understood what they had. That house stayed in the Futrell family all the way until 1989. Through seasons and generations and all the changing years of Gilmer, that home held.

A significant piece of Gilmer's architectural history, the marker calls it. And standing in front of those Ionic columns, those honest rafter ends reaching out into open air, it's hard to argue with that.

What the marker says

Inspired by the Prairie School of architecture and the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 20th century, this house was constructed in 1912 for Gilmer civic leaders Daisie Lee (Boren) and James R. Warren. In 1921, the Warrens sold the house to T. H. Glezen, who traded it to businessman Frank l. and lona (Cotton) Futrell in 1934. Significant features of the house include its overhanging eaves with exposed rafter ends and short Ionic columns on the first-floor porch. A significant piece of Gilmer's architectural history, the house remained in the Futrell family until 1989. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2001