Historic Homes of Georgetown, TX

Throughout our travels, I have found myself becoming more interested in the architecture of the homes and buildings of towns and cities. The cities which have been fortunate enough to have people, local governments, and federal sources (e.g., National Register) interested in historic restoration of their cities historic buildings are indeed fortunate.

Georgetown, Texas seems to be a city that has this combination of dedicated people able to rally resources to obtain funding to save structures. A portion of the homes we saw are presented below.

San Gabriel House B & B, c. 1908

This beautiful Arts and Crafts style mansion was built on the site of a house, owned by Dr. Hyer, which partially or completely burned around 1908. Dr. Hyer moved on to Dallas to become the first president of Southern Methodist University. When the Sells’ family rebuilt, they were so concerned about fire that a fire extinguisher system was located in a central area and ran hoses to the second floor. This is still in place today.

J.H. Reedy House, c. 1909

Two story late Victorian wood-frame dwelling with asymmetrical plan; one-story eight-bay porch with hip roof wraps around three sides; Doric columns. Built for J. H. Reedy, a chemistry professor at Southwestern University.

A.S. Pegues, 1905

D.K. Wilcox House, c. 1913

Two-story wood-frame dwelling with Doric columns on brick piers. A good example of an early twentieth century Belford-built dwelling.

S.A. Easley House, 1913

This Belford-built dwelling included features rare in Georgetown: the choice of brick as the major building material and the inclusion of a sub-basement, which formerly housed a coal chute and furnace.

Wilcox-Graves House, c. 1905

A good example of an early twentieth century vernacular dwelling. One and-a-half-story wood-frame dwelling.

Judge Graves House, c. 1885

This home was common in Georgetown during the 1880 and 1900s. The Irvine Lumber Company incorporated Victorian ornamentation using spindle frieze and turned post balustrade. This home is only one of two known to built by the lumber company.

As Williamson County attorney, he aided the prosecution in a landmark trial against the Ku Klux Klan in 1923-24. (He lived at this site at the time). District attorney and future governor Dan Moody led the team (see our blog on this topic a few days earlier).

Amos-Godby House, 1909

Built in 1909 by the C.S. Belford Lumber company, this was originally the home of Southwestern University German professor Martin C. Amos and his family. It was later purchased by another member of the university faculty, chemistry professor John Campbell Godbey, who lived here until 1965. Features of the home include a gambrel roof and three-bay inset front porch with stone piers.

Chesser-Morgan House, c. 1895

This Victorian cottage has a rounded bay with semi-conical roof at the north front corner of the house that modifies its basic “L” plan. The paired set of rounded bays on the east and west sides of the house balance its shape. Additional interesting features are the overlapping shingles on the sides and the “rain drop” detailing along the fascia boards.

Harper-Chesser House, c. 1860

Two-story wood-frame dwelling with Doric columns and a five-sided window bay.

Dr. W.J. Bucham House, 1906

Designed by Austin architect C.H. Page, this professionally designed residential building is one of only three Georgetown historic homes to feature a gambrel roof. This Dutch Colonial Revival home also features square brick piers, a wraparound porch, and shingled gable ends.

Lane-Riley House, 1872

One-and a-half-story wood-frame dwelling, built by Rev. S. J. Lane, chaplain, Southwestern University and founder, First Methodist church, Georgetown.

A.W. Sillure House, 1912

Built in 1912 for Alexander W. and Eva Sillure to demonstrate that a two story frame home could be both spacious and affordable. The labor and materials totaled an amazing $4,500 in 1912.

The house is representative of the city’s early 20th-century architectural heritage. Sillure, general manager and vice president of the Belford Lumber Company, personally supervised construction of this house and drew the plans for many other homes built by the company in Georgetown. The Sillure House reflects the American Foursquare and Prairie School styles in its full-width porch and broad eaves.

Judge Frank Love House, 1916

Judge Love had a Fort Worth architect draw plans for this home. The wood trim and stucco veneer is known as half timbering style construction.

H.W. Harrell House, 1895

This beautifully restored home was built for banker Henry Harrell by Belford Lumber Company. This home has many Victorian elements--note balconies, bracketed canopy roofs elements, gingerbread/bargeboards under the gable ends, multi-pane tripartite attic window.

S.A. McDougle House, 1895

One of the many fine structures erected by C. S. Belford Lumber Co., this house was built in 1895 for grocer J. A. McDougle (d. 1939). the Queen Anne Victorian styling included ornate stained glass windows.

W.Y. Penn House, 1895

This house was erected in 1895 for William Y. Penn (1860-1951), a local merchant who also served as city alderman and mayor. Like several other Victorian homes here, it was built by C. S. Belford Lumber Co.

We had a copy of "Historic Neighborhoods of Georgetown, Texas" to guide our walk around the neighborhoods of the city and then followed up this information with a study of the webpage: georgetown-texas.org