I love our adopted county. It is tiny. Teeny tiny. In fact, it is the smallest county in the second largest state in the United States. I love the little town square. Next weekend is the Christmas parade. We don’t miss it each year. One year the football float caught on fire in the parade…true story.
One of the things I look forward to each year is the San Jacinto Women’s League home tour. This year was my favorite, favorite, favorite tour that I have ever been on. If I could have hand-picked the homes based on homes I look at longingly, five of them would have been on my list. My top two homes ever were on this list. I loved this home tour so much that I have divided it up into three parts. I hope you don’t hate me for it, but my weekend country home folks hit it out of the park this year.
At the end of our county road, in Point Blank, Texas there are two homes I have been nosy about for years. They are clearly old. Not old, like 1971 when the lake was built and homes sprung up around it, old. Old, old. These homes were clearly homes that were built a long time ago. When we arrived at the starting point this year, Paul Horton Methodist Church, the map made my heart sing because the two old homes were on the tour.
You have to love that each year we show up and get a hand-drawn map telling where the homes are for the year.
The starting point this year was Paul Horton United Methodist Church. An old church located very near our lake house. The Church faces away from the road because the road moved to the other side of the church years ago.
House 1 was the house on Boat Launch Road.
Woo Hoo!
When we started going up to the lake eight years ago, this house was empty, the grass was growing up around her, and the bushes were overgrown. Even in that state I could tell that she was a gem. I would have loved to have purchased her when she went on the market, but alas the time was not right for us. The house was purchased and work began on the home. I strained to see the work in progress every time we drove by. I was always thrilled when the gate was open because I could see work in progress.
I almost stopped at the house to knock on the door and introduce myself several times.
Over the past couple of years the house started to emerge. The weeds were gone, the roof was repaired, and the rotted wood was replaced and painted a beautiful white.
Here is my posse for the day on the porch of the boat launch house.
We wore our Christmas gear. The Social Planner wore a leopard print Santa hat and the rest of us were reindeer.
Isn’t she a beauty?
The inside was remodeled in the 50’s and some of the decisions were, well, questionable. A dentist lived there and opened his office on the property.
I was thrilled this original fireplace remained from when Mr. Robinson built this home for his plantation overseer/ accountant. Yep. this home was part of a huge plantation. It was built by an Alabama family 150 years ago when the property was all a part of a huge plantation along the trinity river. More on that later.
The furnishings are an eclectic mix of antique, vintage, and modern funk. This is a weekend home for a young Houston professional who is working on the home with his friends and parents.
See the vintage television they owner has? I think we had that tv when I was growing up. The beams are original.
See that brown trim around the top of the room? That was installed so that the owner can display his art work without damaging the plaster walls. what a great idea.
I really liked this oak table and chairs in this home. They were the perfect set in this home.
The grand piano by the windows is stunning. The original windows are beautiful.
The fireplace above is clearly an addition. Not my favorite, but the new owner is making the best of it. He is adding rustic touches.
Love the galvanized bucket with poinsettias inside.
House number 2 is a house that I have stared at every time I drive by it and wondered the history. The sign out front says The West Plantation. I have wondered about this grand old home since the first time I saw it.
It turns out that this home was built in 1854 by slaves for the Robinson family. Robert Todd Robinson bought the property, built the home then left his three sons to run the plantation. Sam Houston’s home on Snow Hill road was close by. Sam Houston visited the home often and rode on the Robinson’s boat down into Harrisburg (now called Houston) for business.
Mr. and Mrs. West have owned the home for 40 years. The home is a conglomeration of of additions, modernization, and original elements. Mr. West is a historian and he has created a museum out of his barn for the items found on the site. Only 40 acres of the original plantation remain but those 40 acres are stunning.
Mr. West was thrilled to share his home and his stories.
It was Christmas so the house was decorated but I was more interested in the history of the homes.
The house was really crowded because everyone wanted to see inside this iconic home.
If you ever get the chance to visit our little adopted county, the people of San Jacinto County will welcome you, too. it is a beautiful, hilly little county full of history, great people, and a great lake.
We are lucky folks.
Thanks for reading about my adopted home.
Karen