McFaddin-Ward House
Encyclopedia
The McFaddin-Ward House was built in 1905 - 1906 in the Beaux-Arts Colonial Revival style in Beaumont, Texas
. The historic home is 12800 square feet (1,189.2 m²) and furnishings reflect the lifestyle of the prominent family who lived in the house for seventy-five years. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1971.
Di Vernon Averill commissioned architect Henry Conrad Mauer to build the house, which was sold the next year to Di's brother, William P.H. McFaddin
. McFaddin and his wife Ida Caldwell McFaddin, from Huntington, West Virginia, moved into the house in 1907 with their three children: Mamie, age 12, Perry, Jr., age 9, and James Caldwell, age 6.
A substantial carriage house
was added in the same year. The carriage house had a stable
, hayloft
, garage
, gym
nasium and servant's quarters. When the McFaddins' daughter Mamie married Carroll Ward in 1919, the newlyweds moved in with the McFaddins and lived their entire married life there.
Before Mamie McFaddin Ward died in 1982, she created a foundation to preserve the house and the house opened as a museum
in 1986. The entire grounds are currently open to the public. Outside the three-floor home are spacious lawns and flower beds and rose gardens. Inside, a substantial permanent collection of antique furniture and household items are in view. The McFaddin-Ward House is one of the few house museums in which the home’s original furnishings are intact and on display. It is also one of the few Beaux-Arts Colonial homes still open to the public.
Educational programs focus on history and are geared toward children and adults. The museum hosts lectures, special celebrations, summer camps, and open houses. New exhibits and displays are changed out often, giving fresh interpretations of the home. Christmas time is especially celebrated with special events and Eggnog Thursdays when the public is invited to enjoy eggnog and the McFaddin-recipe tea-cakes before touring the first floor of the house in the December evenings.
In addition, it was named a Texas State Historic Landmark in 1976, and the home has been featured on TV's Arts & Entertainment's America's Castles as a Lone Star Estate (only 3 Texas homes were featured), and the house has been included in several important architectural books.
Once every three years, the McFaddin-Ward House museum hosts a historic house museum conference, inviting hundreds of other historic sites to participate. The next conference, to be held in november, 2010, is titled "Teaching The Past To Ensure A Future" and the speakers will discuss learning systems within the museum field and how new theoris can be applied in order to embrace every museum visitor.
Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...
. The historic home is 12800 square feet (1,189.2 m²) and furnishings reflect the lifestyle of the prominent family who lived in the house for seventy-five years. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1971.
Di Vernon Averill commissioned architect Henry Conrad Mauer to build the house, which was sold the next year to Di's brother, William P.H. McFaddin
William Perry Herring McFaddin
William Perry Herring McFaddin , known as Perry, was a rancher and early landowner in the early years of Beaumont, Texas. Under William McFaddin, the McFaddin Ranches of Beaumont reached their greatest extent. The Spindletop oil gusher was located on land leased from McFaddin. The site of Port...
. McFaddin and his wife Ida Caldwell McFaddin, from Huntington, West Virginia, moved into the house in 1907 with their three children: Mamie, age 12, Perry, Jr., age 9, and James Caldwell, age 6.
A substantial carriage house
Carriage house
A carriage house, also called remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack.In Great Britain the farm building was called a Cart Shed...
was added in the same year. The carriage house had a stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
, hayloft
Hayloft
A hayloft is a space above a barn, stable or cow-shed, traditionally used for storage of hay or other fodder for the animals below. Haylofts were used mainly before the widespread use of hay bales, which allow simpler handling of bulk hay...
, garage
Garage (house)
A residential garage is part of a home, or an associated building, designed or used for storing a vehicle or vehicles. In some places the term is used synonymously with "carport", though that term normally describes a structure that is not completely enclosed.- British residential garages:Those...
, gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
nasium and servant's quarters. When the McFaddins' daughter Mamie married Carroll Ward in 1919, the newlyweds moved in with the McFaddins and lived their entire married life there.
Before Mamie McFaddin Ward died in 1982, she created a foundation to preserve the house and the house opened as a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
in 1986. The entire grounds are currently open to the public. Outside the three-floor home are spacious lawns and flower beds and rose gardens. Inside, a substantial permanent collection of antique furniture and household items are in view. The McFaddin-Ward House is one of the few house museums in which the home’s original furnishings are intact and on display. It is also one of the few Beaux-Arts Colonial homes still open to the public.
Educational programs focus on history and are geared toward children and adults. The museum hosts lectures, special celebrations, summer camps, and open houses. New exhibits and displays are changed out often, giving fresh interpretations of the home. Christmas time is especially celebrated with special events and Eggnog Thursdays when the public is invited to enjoy eggnog and the McFaddin-recipe tea-cakes before touring the first floor of the house in the December evenings.
In addition, it was named a Texas State Historic Landmark in 1976, and the home has been featured on TV's Arts & Entertainment's America's Castles as a Lone Star Estate (only 3 Texas homes were featured), and the house has been included in several important architectural books.
Once every three years, the McFaddin-Ward House museum hosts a historic house museum conference, inviting hundreds of other historic sites to participate. The next conference, to be held in november, 2010, is titled "Teaching The Past To Ensure A Future" and the speakers will discuss learning systems within the museum field and how new theoris can be applied in order to embrace every museum visitor.