Restoration and Renovation

Built in 1897-1904 by Robert Lee Warren this Colonial Revival-Prairie School style mansion is in Terrell, Texas. Warren worked with architect James E. Flanders to design the home, which he purchased with oil money from Beaumont — Spindletop money, to be exact. (Warren later served as a state senator from 1911 to 1915),

The home is on the Texas Historical Registry as well as the National List of Historical Places. 

 In 1959, Murphy and Emily Crowell purchased it and began the first restoration of the property. But somehow, the home became vacant. 

The home sat open and empty for more than a decade, when it was purchased by Johnny and Patricia Skipworth in 2008, they worked on restoring it for several years.  
 

The restoration work by the McCord family and the Skyworths, and their love of this masterpiece of Texas architecture is most evident in the stained glass, woodwork, and other details that survived not only the march of time but the stresses of neglect. All of the Tiffany-style-stained glass survived those difficult years, despite the water damage that claimed other parts of the home. The house has 9 fireplaces, seven (7) have been converted to electric and 2-to gas (the home was built to run on coal originally, and radiators later)

 In January 2023 the house was purchased in a deteriorated condition by people who love old houses. The basement was flooded, and the porte-cochere was falling in as were other parts of the brickwork. the kitchen ceiling leaked, eaves were deteriorating, porches were rotting away, and the list of needed repairs was extensive. 

The new owners restored the home to as close to a like new condition as possible with a 120-year-old grand lady of a home. Every square inch of this house has been touched, from five feet below grade to the top of the new chimney caps. Every building tradesman and craftsman in the home-building business has visited this property during the thirteen months that the restoration took to complete. The home has undergone a most extensive and complete restoration. Setting her on the road to another 120 years of Texas history.

 In addition to the restoration of this Texas historical home. The home was renovated to solve some long-standing opportunities. A pantry-laundry was added to the kitchen area, in the same location where the pantry was orginaly. The downstairs ½ bath now has a sink that is inside the bathroom not in the adjoining hall. A full bath was added to the downstairs in a previous closet, and two new bathrooms were added to the upstairs bedrooms. Making the home a 5-bedroom, 5-1/2 bath house. All the plumbing was replaced throughout the house. The list of the work that was done is long and extensive and deserves more space than is available on this page.