The McFarlane House
Richmond, Fort Bend County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A native of Scotland, Isaac McFarlane (1840-1900) served with Terry's Texas Rangers during the Civil War and later became a successful merchant in Richmond. This home was constructed for his family in the early 1880s by local builder Thomas Culshaw. Prominent features include the Italianate hood molds over the windows and doors and the cut metal cresting on the roof ridge. Ownership of the house remained with the McFarlane family until 1979. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Isaac McFarlane left Scotland for Texas, rode with Terry's Texas Rangers during the Civil War, and afterward built a prosperous mercantile trade in Richmond. In the early 1880s local builder Thomas Culshaw raised this house for the family, dressing it in fashionable Italianate style with molded window hoods and decorative metal cresting along the roof ridge. The McFarlanes kept the home for nearly a century, holding it until 1979.
Why it matters
It links an immigrant Confederate cavalryman's story to the merchant class that rebuilt Texas towns after the Civil War, preserved in one of the era's finest surviving Italianate homes.
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Related people
- · Isaac McFarlane
- · Thomas Culshaw
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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