From the National Registry Of Historic Places Nomination Form:
Summary
The 1906 Price-Farwell House is a one-and-a-half- story, frame Craftsman bungalow with a pyramidal roof and broad front porch. The walls are clad in false bevel siding, the roof is asphalt shingle, structural timbers are cypress, and the chimney and foundation piers and skirting are brick. The front elevation features several large multi-light windows, four classical porch columns, and a large gabled dormer. The interior of the house has Craftsman details, such as an open plan, built-in cabinets, and dark woodwork. The house is located on Tres Palacios Bay, on a flat lot with palms and fruit trees. It fronts South Bay Boulevard and has a view of the bay and its pier and pavilion. A small non-historic carport behind the house is accessed from Duson Avenue. Meticulously restored in 2004, the house is in excellent condition and possesses remarkable integrity. It was designed by notable south Texas architect Jules Leffland, and is his only known extant residential building in Matagorda County.
Description
The house, which is addressed 308 South Bay Boulevard, occupies Lot 4 and 30 feet of Lot 5 in Block A, at the corner of South Bay Boulevard and 4th Street. When built, the house was located approximately three blocks to the west, at the corner of 6th Street and Duson Avenue, but it was moved to its present site in 1920. The current site is directly across South Bay Boulevard from the pavilion, which is located a short distance offshore. The house, which faces south towards the bay, sits east of the center of its lot, and is surrounded by a flat lawn. A concrete walkway leads from South Bay Boulevard to the front porch and to the rear of the house, where a small modem carport is located. The driveway is located in the rear, as well, with its entrance on Duson Avenue behind the house. Numerous palms and fruit trees, planted in the 1920s and 1930s, are on the lot, primarily in front of and to the west of the house.
Statement of Significance
The Price-Farwell House, constructed in 1906, is one of the finest historic residences in Palacios, Matagorda County, Texas, and dates to the earliest period of growth and development in this coastal Texas town. Designed by regionally renowned architect Jules Leffland and home to two important Palacios citizens, John T. Price and H.B. Farwell, the house is significant for its association with families who promoted Palacios' economic development. In addition, the house is architecturally significant as one of the best preserved and most intact of Leffland's residential designs in Matagorda County; it is one of his eight surviving buildings in the county, most of which are hotels or banks. The house also represents changing tastes in residential design and architecture with a move toward the Craftsman Bungalow style while retaining vestiges of a Classical design aesthetic. Because it is one of the premier architect-designed historic houses in Palacios, the Price-Farwell House is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places. Because it is an intact and stellar example of Leffland's domestic designs, it is nominated under Criterion C for Architecture, at the local level of significance, with Criteria Consideration B, as it was relocated in 1920.
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A Texas Historical Commission Marker in the front lawn states:
In 1901, the Palacios City Townsite Company began selling lots for the new "City by the Sea," laid out along Tres Palacios Bay. Three years later, the New York, Texas & Mexican Railway built a line into town, and within ten years Palacios was the site of the Texas Baptist Encampment and promoted widely as a health resort town.
Lumberman John T. Price (1875-1921) and his wife, Opal Dean (Cates) (1883-1980) moved from Tennessee to Palacios in 1906. They built this residence on the corner of Fifth and Duson streets, overlooking Tres Palacios Bay. They lived in the home until 1920, when Howard Bradford Farwell and wife Mary Estelle purchased it and moved it three blocks to this site. H.B. Farwell (1854-1943) came to Palacios in 1905 to manage the Palacios City Townsite Company, and he became a prominent business leader in the community. The Farwell family retained ownership of the property until 1946. Later owners included Amos and Helen (Gilbert) Duffy, and Nelle Elizabeth Kimball.
The Price-Farwell House represents a major shift in traditional residential design. The bungalow became a prominent house form in this region in the early part of the 20th century. Such houses were often built by contractors from set plans or pattern books, with owners responsible for choosing interior detailings and finishes. The home exhibits both Neoclassical and Arts and Crafts influences. Design elements include a pyramidal roof, front-facing central dormer, classical columns, symmetrical façade, three-bay porch and multi-pane window patterning.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2004