Home in Stephenville, Texas – The Story of Vanderbilt Place
A gorgeous, 2-story, 3700 square foot dwelling was crafted on the web site of what was beforehand the McIlvaney Academy which was claimed by hearth in 1919. We contact this household “Vanderbilt Spot.” With its hardwood floors, French doors, claw foot tubs, five fireplaces and higher ceilings, a single would be hard pressed to uncover a finer put to rent for a particular situation.
In 1920, the house which is presently located on the website was designed. In an report which the nearby newspaper was variety ample to run, I requested if anybody understood something at all of the home’s historical past if they would be sure to call me. 1 aged gentleman reported the house was owned by a spouse and children with the previous name of Henry and that the home was often “crawling with small children.”
A further female I met explained she boarded there although in school.
I heard from yet another male who explained his mother ran the home as a boarding household for college boys again in the 1940’s and 50’s. He claimed, in people days, there was another composition on the home – a garage condominium – which he and his brothers slept in. I was informed by the preceding owner’s son that there was indeed a garage condominium on the residence. He mentioned, even though his father tore that structure down all around 1999 or 2000, it was not beyond repair.
A person humorous connect with came from a person who explained the entrance to the kitchen area employed to be all glass but, when he was a kid, he was throwing a ball indoors and broke the glass, “a day,” he additional, chuckling, “that will live in infamy.” That fellow extra that his dad experienced set up some form of a spring-loaded contraption designed to raise and decreased rubbish cans as “puppies, cats and varmints ended up everywhere you go in those days.” He reported that there was no purpose to ever take away the device and that, likelihood are, it truly is still buried there till this day.
A person working day, two white-haired and very well-to-do ladies dropped by the residence. They stated they have been from Granbury and have been component of the Henry family members that the moment lived there. In truth, when the dwelling was “crawling with little ones,” they had been portion of that team. The girls were being pretty kind and had several great factors to say about how we had been decorating the house. 1 girl was even moved to tears. They described how the dwelling was normally a rooming household of one particular form or a different, and confirmed us how the space that we now know as the kitchen area used to be a compact condominium. The learn bathroom is now blocking what was when the back again doorway, a straight shot from the front door. The French doorways we see at the stop of the downstairs foyer were not often there as individuals exact doors when divided the living place from the grasp bed room. The women recalled how they used to have dances on the entrance porch and informed of how they had been linked to the good American Statesman, Patrick Henry of “Give me liberty or give me death” fame.
A single night, as I was affixing quantities above the upstairs bedrooms, I could not aid but observe that there ended up currently nail holes there from earlier area quantities. While we’re selected the house has undergone a variety of renovations in its 85-yr historical past, we are quite proud of the simple fact that we are remaining true to the initial takes advantage of and goal of the developing, i.e., furnishing a comfortable, sweet-spirited area where by people today can lay their head at the conclude of the day.