Howard House
Calvert, Robertson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This Eastlake style cottage was constructed by Mrs. S. M. Howard (d. 1932) in 1897, one year after she purchased the property from her sister-in-law Mrs. E. C. Morse. The home's outstanding features include fishscale shingling, a wide veranda with intricate gingerbread ornamentation, and interior woodwork detailing. Representative of Calvert at the turn of the century, the house remained in the Howard family until the 1940s. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1982
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Calvert boomed as a cotton and railroad town in the late 1800s, and its homes reflected the era's taste for exuberant Victorian styling. In 1897 Mrs. S. M. Howard built this Eastlake-style cottage, a year after buying the property from her sister-in-law, giving it fishscale shingles, a wide gingerbread veranda, and finely detailed interior woodwork. The house stayed in the Howard family into the 1940s and typifies Calvert at the turn of the century.
Why it matters
The Howard House preserves the domestic architecture of a Gilded Age Texas town and the story of a woman who commissioned and built her own home when few did.
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Related people
- · Mrs. S. M. Howard
Themes & tags
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