Woodworth House

Duane's take

The way the official marker tells it, here's the story of the Woodworth House in Refugio County. Now, some houses just sit there. This one has something to say.

It's a Victorian home, built for a newspaperman named L.H. Woodworth, born in 1864 and gone by 1921, and his wife Mary Frances Power, who went by the Swift name before she married, born in 1871 and living all the way to 1957. And here's where the story gets a little deeper, because Mary Frances wasn't just anybody.

She was the granddaughter of empresario James Power, the man who founded Refugio itself. So there's history baked right into the family that called this place home. The first floor went up in 1900, and then someone decided that wasn't quite enough, because in 1907 they stacked a second story right on top of it.

The whole structure was designed by a man named Julius Leffland, and Leffland had a signature move: a central octagonal bay room, eight sides rising up and commanding the whole galleried facade. You can't miss it. You're not supposed to.

After the Woodworths, the house passed to their daughter, a Mrs. Thelma Heard, who kept the place in the family. Then in 1974, W.W.

Harkins, Jr. restored it, bringing all that Victorian character back to life. One octagonal room, two generations of family, and a founding grandfather's name echoing through every wall. That's the Woodworth House.

What the marker says

This Victorian home was erected for newspaperman L.H. Woodworth (1864-1921) and his wife Mary Frances Power (Swift) (1871-1957), granddaughter of empresario James Power, who founded Refugio. The first floor was built in 1900 and the second story added in 1907. The central octagonal bay room dominates the galleried structure, designed by Julius Leffland. Later occupied by the Woodworths' daughter Mrs. Thelma Heard, the house was restored in 1974 by W.W. Harkins, Jr. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1976