When Cotton Was King Part Two

In my previous post I showed you the Cotton Gin Festival & showed you the stuff the guys really would like about it. Interesting but..... this post interests me even MORE! As I shared in the last post, Texas is the number one cotton producer in the United States & has been for a LONG time. One of the by products of this is that back about 100 years ago that made parts of Texas VERY WEALTHY! When driving to the festival our legs got tired & we stopped in this LITTLE TINY TOWN. It almost looked dried up but, I knew there was an Antique Store & I talked "Honey" into stopping to stretch our legs. While talking to the owner we heard that Calvert, TX was known for having a large number of Cotton Mansions. We looked at each other each thinking "WHERE?" Because this place almost looked like a ghost town. She said "At the light turn & go east of town". We did & WE WERE AMAZED!!!!!! Block after Block of fabulous vintage homes. Beautiful Homes built when Cotton was King & they had a very prosperous Cotton Gin & the Rail Road in Calvert. The weather was grey & cloudy. Often it was raining so I did not get as many photos as I would have liked but, here are a few for you to enjoy.

This is the Parrish House. I LOVED the color & all the gingerbread trim on this beautiful mansion.

Wouldn't you love to sleep in the room under the turret? And walk onto that second floor balcony?

This is the back part of the house. Probably has the kitchen in the rear area.

Look at the beautiful lace curtains & the blue bottles sitting on the windowsill. They garage or carriage house to this property was cute too but, it poured buckets just as I snapped this last shot so... no carriage house shots today. SORRY!

This next house is the Robert Brown House. It is painted a strange shade of brick red & the house sits at an angle on the lot. It is a corner lot & the front door faces neither street but, the corner. You can see the railing there by the tree. I also LOVE the old metal fence. I would be happy as a clam if I could find a lot of these sections for myself.

Another view of the Brown House looking back at the garage that has been added to the property. Right now "Honey" & I are all about garages, storage building, & places for a shop & studio. Wouldn't this make a divine little studio?

This is the John Henry Gibson House. Again sorry for the low light but, the weather was not cooperating at all. You can see by this shot how BIG the lots are for these homes.

The photo below is directly across the street & I could not find the name in my book for this house. But, it is listed as The Calvert Inn. I assume a B&B. Ooooooooooooooh I can see a stay overnight here can't you?

Speaking of a stay overnight.... the lady at the Antique Store said that many of the residents open their homes for a Christmas Tour. I AM SOOOOOOOOOO GOING TO GO TO THIS! You know I LOVE Christmas Home Tours & I MUST see inside these jewels. OK, you local gals get ready looks like a ROAD TRIP!

I didn't get the name of this house but, it's a good one too. Love the white with black trim. And the garage..........

I can see us sitting on the porch rocking in those white rockers having a cup of coffee each morning. A glass of tea midday & a glass of wine in the evening.

This is a view of the beautiful rock wall that they put around the property & there was a beautiful garden on the other side of the wall.

This little cutie is not a MANSION but, I thought it was so sweet.

Love the fish scale work on the outside. And the stained glass window. Of course the gingerbread trim on the porch spoke to my heart.

This is a view from the side. Oh that porch!

This is the only shot of the Barton House. And it was taken from the back because I was so into the other sweet house I showed you & the garage/carriage house of the Barton House. By the time I finished stomping through the wet grass to get these photos & hopped back in the car the sky opened up again & POURED!

Now, is that perfect for a studio or what? The Barton House belongs to a lady in Houston. She has a high dollar condo in Houston, a large ranch somewhere in Texas & bought this house for weekends & parties. Only paid a mere 2.5 MILLION DOLLARS! Chump change I guess. From what the Antique Store owner said, many of the houses are just "weekend homes". Tough Life! Anyway, I for one just got my appetizer & am ready for the full Monty this December. How about you? And Jodie at Everything Vintage, the cemetery is "to DIE for". Sorry that was bad pun.... but, it was beautiful. So old with amazing marble markers. I also want to go spend some time there because I know it will be fascinating. Hope you enjoyed this little tour & a glimpse of life in Calvert, TX when COTTON WAS KING!