1414 J Avenue - Plano Downtown Historic District - Plano, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 33° 01.156 W 096° 42.026
14S E 714793 N 3655771
Moore House (Hotel)/Commercial Hotel/Masonic Lodge, 1896. Contributing. One of the oldest buildings in the district, this two-story, two-part commercial block is also one of the most distinctive.
Waymark Code: WM104ZR
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/27/2019
Views: 2
NRHP Nomination Form"The building is embellished with a shaped parapet, arched windows, and rough-cut stone used for lintels, belt courses, and coping. The rough-cut stone suggests a Romanesque Revival influence from the latter part of the 19th century.
The sign block has the Masonic emblem and the words “Plano Lodge.” Below this sign block are three smaller blocks with the numbers “19,” “768,” and “25.” These numbers stand for the year 1925 when the local Masonic lodge acquired the building, and the lodge’s number.
The first floor has four rounded arched openings; one towards the north and south ends of the façade and two at the center of the façade. The northern arched opening has a door surmounted by a tall rounded arched transom. The other arched openings are filled with 1/1 windows. All of the arched openings have rough-cut stone voussoirs.
The blocky lintels above the entrances are also composed of rough-cut stone voussoirs. Rough-cut stone is also used for continuous sills beneath first and second story windows, as belt courses, and the parapet’s coping. The rough-cut stone is indicative of the Romanesque Revival style which was popular at the time the building was constructed. The entire building has been stucccoed. The façade is painted red with the stone detailing painted a creamy-white.
This site is the location of Plano’s first hotel, the Moore House, a wood framed structure that was enlarged over the years. The present building was constructed after the 1895 fire that destroyed downtown. By 1907, it was known as the Commercial Hotel."