The Sturgis House - Waco, TX - Victorian Style Architecture on Waymarking.com

Built 1887 by James N. Harris in a refined Victorian style.

Bricks handmade from Brazos River sand are used throughout entire structure and servant's quarters. Walls are 13-inch, solid, with interior plaster directly applied. Roof is the original.

Bought 1912 by Mr. and Mrs. James H. Sturgis, whose children James, Jr., Carroll W., and Anna Elizabeth were brought up here. Structure is now preserved by Mr. and Mrs. Carroll W. Sturgis.

The house is also a contributing building in the Waco Downtown Historic District on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, and their Registration Form (see Web Address, below) expounds upon the Texas Historical Marker:

Constructed in 1887 for James N. Harris, the Sturgis House is a two-story brick home with Folk Victorian styling. The house is located on Washington Avenue, along the southern perimeter of what is now Waco's commercial district. Sanborn maps indicate that in 1899, the house was part of a residential neighborhood that featured large, well-designed homes. By the second decade of the twentieth century, churches and schools began to replace these dwellings, and the commercial core began to reach southward along Washington Avenue.

The house, constructed fully of brick hand-made from Brazos River sand, is L-shaped in plan and extends two full stories. The tan brick, laid thirteen inches thick, provides both the home's structure and exterior cladding. Plaster is applied directly onto these walls to clad interior surfaces. The house is capped by a low-hipped roof with projecting eaves. A cornice lined with dentils and scrolled brackets supports the eaves. The north and south ends of the house each feature a single brick chimney, capped with corbelled brickwork. The front façade (west-facing) is dominated by a double-height porch, elevated above grade to the height of approximately five stair steps. The porch, on both the lower and upper levels, is supported by turned posts; it is further embellished with a turned balustrade and fretwork. All woodwork on the porch is painted white. The main façade is visually divided into five bays, the center bay features the main entry, and each flanking bay is punctuated by a tall rectangular, 2/2 double-hung segmented-arch window. The interior is accessed through a double door (painted dark red), topped with a segmented-arch transom window, and flanked sidelights. Windows feature shutters, painted black. The upper floor mirrors the ground-floor configuration, with centered doorway opening onto the upper porch. Windows and doors are trimmed in painted woodwork (white, to correspond with the porch supports); this is a striking contrast to the relatively monochromatic tan brick of the main body of the house.

The house, originally owned by James Harris, was purchased by James H. Sturgis in 1912; the Sturgis family still owns and maintains this residence. Sturgis was likely associated with downtown Waco's Sturgis Block (Third Street and Austin) and the Sturgis Building.