History of a house

- Former H B Allen residence -

I've always liked this certain house in Sweetwater, even though I've never been inside it. During the 1980's, I went to a party in the little apartment out back, but I don't remember what it looked like. 

The house sits on the northwest corner of Texas Street and Sam Houston Street, directly across from the old Trammell House (the Trammell House faces east, the Texas Street house faces north).

A couple of weeks ago, I was driving by and it caught my eye, again. The lions and planters are additions from the '80's, I believe, when a local retailer (and one of the former owners of the house) had a thriving import business. It seems like it was during this time that the house was refurbished and looked grand.

A quick trip up the stairs and a peek in the window will show that this place is in deep decline. The front glass is broken and the entire ceiling in the front room has caved in. It seems it's now a home for pigeons.

There is still something about it, something that is compelling. It draws me in, and I can imagine living there in another time, when the structure wasn't compromised. Bare feet on a cool floor, windows open, television grumbling in the background, making tea in a grandmotherly kitchen on a mild summer day.

I became determined to figure out the provenance of this house, and here are some facts that I found: 

• Texas Street (Highland Addition) was not on the City of Sweetwater Sanborn Fire Insurance map in 1922, but it was in 1930.
• H B (Horace Bernard or Bun) Allen was listed as the resident there (507 West Texas) for 1929-30. He was listed at 506 West Texas for 1927-28.
• Bun Allen came to Sweetwater in 1921. He was a city commissioner 1927-1931. He was responsible for building the (Sweetwater) famous Bluebonnet Hotel.

While tracing the property as it went from family to family, some lascivious information, having no bearing on the house itself, spilled over onto my relevant facts. There were incongruencies between obituaries and county records, too many records for trades and liens between family members, and multiple loans from different banks at the same time for a single piece of property. The stories that have been publicly allowed are quite different from the actuality.

Back to the basic facts, though: I will guess that the Texas Street house was built  in the 1920's (1926-27?). 

The architecture is the most fascinating element of the building. It doesn't seem to match the style of J E Morgan, whom Bun Allen used to design the Bluebonnet, or the Mission Revival style used by John Young in designing the Trammell house.

It looks like a bungalow type home. Somewhere in the Arts & Crafts, Craftsman area, maybe. It could possibly be a Sears kit, those were very popular during that era. 

Some of the Sears houses are detailed and intricate, but I can't find one with elaborate porch beams like the one on Texas St. As you can see in the photo, the beams are not solid. They're made up of four pieces of wood put together to form the long beam, with a wooden square cap on the end.

There is probably a full historical evaluation of this house out there somewhere, but these are my conclusions after a fairly thorough perusal of websites (such as Texas File Nolan County, Nolan CAD, find-a-grave, Library of Congress, Google in general) and the Polk City Directories at the County City Library. A trip to the Pioneer Museum in Sweetwater would probably be worth looking into, even if no evidence of the house was found.

Sam Houston Street can be driven end to end, south to north, through the entire south side of Sweetwater. Start at the Interstate 20 access road (North Georgia), turn at the Texas Department of Public Safety office, then go all the way down to West First Street, just after crossing the railroad tracks at the Union Pacific Depot. The Trammell and Texas Street houses are en route.