Price-Farwell House
Palacios, Matagorda County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1901, the Palacios City Townsite Company began selling lots for the new "City by the Sea," laid out along Tres Palacios Bay. Three years later, the New York, Texas & Mexican Railway built a line into town, and within ten years Palacios was the site of the Texas Baptist Encampment and promoted widely as a health resort town. Lumberman John T. Price (1875-1921) and his wife, Opal Dean (Cates) (1883-1980) moved from Tennessee to Palacios in 1906. They built this residence on the corner of Fifth and Duson streets, overlooking Tres Palacios Bay. They lived in the home until 1920, when Howard Bradford Farwell and wife Mary Estelle purchased it and moved it three blocks to this site. H.B. Farwell (1854-1943) came to Palacios in 1905 to manage the Palacios City Townsite Company, and he became a prominent business leader in the community. The Farwell family retained ownership of the property until 1946. Later owners included Amos and Helen (Gilbert) Duffy, and Nelle Elizabeth Kimball. The Price-Farwell House represents a major shift in traditional residential design. The bungalow became a prominent house form in this region in the early part of the 20th century. Such houses were often built by contractors from set plans or pattern books, with owners responsible for choosing interior detailings and finishes. The home exhibits both Neoclassical and Arts and Crafts influences. Design elements include a pyramidal roof, front-facing central dormer, classical columns, symmetrical façade, three-bay porch and multi-pane window patterning. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2004
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
After the Palacios City Townsite Company began selling lots along Tres Palacios Bay in 1901 and a railway reached the promoted 'health resort' town, lumberman John T. Price and his wife Opal Dean built this bayfront home in 1906. In 1920 townsite manager H.B. Farwell bought the house and moved it three blocks to this spot. Blending Neoclassical and Arts and Crafts details on a pyramidal-roofed bungalow form, the house captures the pattern-book residential architecture that swept the early twentieth-century Gulf Coast.
Why it matters
It documents how railroads and resort boosterism built new Texas coastal towns, and how the bungalow reshaped everyday American home design.
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Related people
- · John T. Price
- · Opal Dean (Cates) Price
- · Howard Bradford Farwell
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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