"Bright--Lamkin--Easterling House - Monroe, Louisiana" Waymark

The Bright-Lamkin-Easterling House (1890) is a two story frame Queen Anne Revival residence located near downtown Monroe in the city’s old residential area. The house has been little altered since construction.

The asymmetrical plan consists of four major rooms upstairs and down. The house is entered via a foyer which features the principal staircase and a corner fireplace. If the room were larger, it could be considered a living hall. The foyer connects with the front parlor via paneled pocket doors. At the rear of the parlor is another set of pocket doors opening into the library' This yields a somewhat open floor plan. The dining room is set to the rear of the foyer, and further to the rear is a kitchen wing with a porch and servant's staircase. The foyer is encompassed on the exterior by an Eastlake porch with arched trellises.

The exterior design is similar to prototypes published in Pallister's New Cottage Homes (1887). Although no specific plate was used, one must admit that the Bright-Lamkin-Easterling House is closer to the high style East Coast Queen Anne Revival than one usually finds in Louisiana. This is due mainly to the two story vertical mass and the relatively small verandahs. The massing is enlivened by two small balconies, two polygonal bays, three imbricated shingle gables (one of which also features panels), three Elizabethan chimneys, two dormers, and a cast-iron rooftop balustrade.....

Melinda T. Layton sold the property on which the house is located to William A. Bright on February 26, 1890. The deed required that Bright construct a residence on the property by September 1, 1890 or automatically forfeit it back to Mrs. Layton. Bright held the property until May 31, 1894. By deed dated December 6, 1898, E. Tyler Lamkin acquired the property, and it remained in the Lamkin family until August 8, 1979. Mrs. Marguerite Lamkin Easterling owned the house from May 13, 1927 until August 9, 1973. ~ Nomination form, National Register