Mayes House
Denison, Grayson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Architect Donald Mayes (1914-1966) designed and lived in this house with his wife, Rose Marie (Riddle) (1918-2008), whom he married in 1940. In addition to this home, he designed several others in the Edgewood addition, as well as banks, schools, First Presbyterian Church, Grayson County sub-courthouse and dozens of other residences in Denison. Mayes also played a prominent role in changes to the local built environment when he chaired Denison’s Planning and Zoning Commission. The one-story, gable-in-hip Mayes house lacks ornamentation due to rich features including Colorado red ledgestone and hand-split cedar shakes. The home’s horizontality is emphasized by bands of windows with horizontal muntins.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Architect Donald Mayes designed and lived in this low, horizontal mid-century home, one of several he built in Denison's Edgewood addition. Over his career he shaped much of the town's built environment—banks, schools, First Presbyterian Church, the county sub-courthouse, and dozens of houses—and chaired Denison's planning and zoning commission. The house's Colorado red ledgestone, hand-split cedar shakes, and ribbon windows show the modern style he favored.
Why it matters
It captures the arrival of mid-century modern design in small-town America and the outsized role a single local architect could play in shaping a community's schools, churches, and civic buildings.
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Related people
- · Donald Mayes
- · Rose Marie (Riddle) Mayes
Themes & tags
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