The McFadden-Ward House - Beaumont

The McFadden-Ward House is located in Beaumont, Tx was worthwhile visiting and following is the history of this amazing home.

History of The House

The McFaddin-Ward House was built in 1905-06 in the striking and distinctive Beaux-Arts Colonial style. The structure and its furnishings reflect the lifestyle of the prominent family who lived in the house for seventy-five years.

When W. P. H. and Ida Caldwell McFaddin moved their young family, two sons and one daughter, into their house in 1907, Beaumont was still enjoying the economic effects of the discovery of oil at nearby Spindletop in 1901. Having already accumulated considerable wealth from the cattle business, rice farming and milling, commercial real estate, and trapping, the family prospered even more after Spindletop, since Mr. McFaddin owned part interest in the land where oil was discovered.

The McFaddin home was one of a number of grand residences built in town by local architect Henry Conrad Mauer during the early twentieth century. Mauer, trained at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, incorporated local materials with the most advanced electrical, heating, and plumbing systems of the time. The home was initially built for Colonel W. C. Averill and his wife Di, the sister of W. P. H. McFaddin. After living in the house for several months, the Averills decided to trade houses with the McFaddins, who lived nearby. In early January 1907, the McFaddins moved in.

The house served as a lavish backdrop for the frequent entertainments and elegant parties the McFaddins hosted. In 1919, the McFaddins’ daughter Mamie married Carroll Ward, and the couple moved into this house with her parents. They lived their entire lives there, making few changes to the house or its décor after 1950. Throughout much of Mamie McFaddin’s adult life, she kept a diary documenting social events, consumer habits, and daily routines, with mentions of noteworthy family events and happenings around Beaumont, in the region, and the world. The family were excellent record-keepers, holding on to photographs, invoices, receipts, and other financial documents. Because of their foresight, we are able to paint a picture of what life was like for a wealthy Southeast Texas family.

The entrance is very regal.

Memmi and her mother really liked the colour pink and  several of the bathrooms are also "all pink"

The dining room was very elegant and there is lots of silverware throughout with many furniture and fittings from all over the world spanning some 70 years.

The Carriage House which is located behind the main home was accommodation for their cook, Mr Lemond who could not read or write but was a fantastic cook.  He was their cook for 30 years.   The coach House also has the stables and storage of hay and grain in the loft which was then fed down chutes to the individual horse stalls.

Tomorrow we will finally will get to Baton Rouge.    

Cheers,

Ross and Beverley                                      

Orange - Texas

We arrived in Beaumont, Texas last evening located very near the Texas Boarder which it shares with Louisiana.
Today we visited the town of Orange which is a 35 minute drive from our RV Park.  Its a very historical town. Below is the magnificant home of W.H. Stark  and his wife Miriam Lutcher Stark who spent a lifetime collecting rare and unique decorative objects. Miriam Melissa Lutcher moved to Orange with her parents, Henry Jacob Lutcher and Frances Ann Lutcher, in the late 1870s. Henry Jacob Lutcher was co-owner of the Lutcher and Moore Lumber Company. He and his wife Frances began a philanthropic dynasty that continues to benefit the Orange community today.

In 1881 Miriam M. Lutcher married William Henry Stark, who made his fortune in banking, oil, rice, insurance, and the regional timber industry. They moved into their home in 1894 and occupied it until 1936. They were passionate collectors. Their son H.J. Lutcher Stark grew up influenced by their lifetime dedication to philanthropy and the arts.

When the Stark family moved into their new home, W.H. Stark was forty-three, Miriam was thirty-five, and their son Lutcher was seven. They were the only family to inhabit the house. When W.H. and Miriam Stark died in 1936, Lutcher Stark closed the house. It was vacant until 1970 when restoration began. Restoration to the era of 1894 continued for ten years, and the house was opened as a house museum for public tours on February 10, 1981.

Architecturally it is classified in the Queen Anne architectural style.

Among the many places to visit in Orange is the First Presbyterian Church  which is an amazing building.

                                         

There are many place to see visit in this city including the Blue Elbow Swamp which is part of Tony Housman and Wildlife Management Area.  

                                                

Tomorrow we head off to Baton Rouge.

Cheers,

Beverley and Ross

Out and About in San Antonio

Whilst we departed San Antonio in September 2016 returning back to our second home has been a very busy time.  We have used 7 tanks of gas over the 4 weeks we have been back and we have travelled hundreds of miles, most of this has been to catch up with friends and to enjoy the culinary delights of the surrounding areas.

We enjoyed lunch with Jim and Soojin whom we worked with. Soojin is the only one of the AMUSA staff who remains an employee who is responsible for all financial business matters relating to AM.  Jim lives in Carolina and we are planning on visiting with he and his family on this trip.

Some of our friends we met originally in 1993 when posted to the USA.  Charles (USAF- Ret) was Beverley's lecturer when she undertook the Battle Field Nursing Course at Brooke's Airforce Base.  We have been friends with he and Elaine for all of these years.  We had a great time catching up.

During our 6 years  working for AMUSA we were involved in providing EMS services to Eagle Pass and Laredo located in South Texas.  Esper was the manager of the Eagle Pass EMS service and her husband Robert provided mechanical services for our ambulances.  It was so nice to enjoy lunch with them both.

Another long time friend is Ed (US Army -Ret) whom we have enjoyed many dinners together with he and late Lynn his wife who sadly passed away 5 years ago   Whilst Lynn has passed she will always be remembered.  This evening we had a fun evening with he and his daughter Jess who is a high school teacher.  This evening we dined at the Outback Steak House.

Nora and Bob are friends we have met whilst R'Ving.  They have after many years of R'Ving have sold their fifth wheel and are moving into their home in Arkansas.  They have also purchased a smaller RV so they can enjoy the best of both worlds.  We plan on visiting with them while on this trip.

Claudia and John are two lovely people we worked with.  Claudia worked in HR and John was our  EMS dispatcher.  He is also a graphic designer.  The day it was Claudia's birthday so it was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy brunch with them.

Faythe is another dear friend.   It was she and Mark, her finance, who were our realtors when we sold our home in SAT.  Unfortunately Mark could not join us this evening however, it was so good to have time to chat with Faythe. We wish them a long and happy loving marriage.

Randy (USAF- Ret) and Wanda were posted to Australia 20 years ago and have visited Australia many times.  They have a lovely property in Henley on acerage.  Randy now works in wound management and is slowly moving into retirement much to Wanda's delight.  It is always educational and fun to spend time with these two loverly people.

Mary was another of our AMUSA staff who always came to work color coordinated and looking beautiful.  She was our Compliance Officer which included looked after all of our billing, educating all EMS staff on compliance and accurate report writing and so forth or our EMS services.  Mary and Beverley worked very closely together and her husband Mark is an educator and is the head of a very large Independent School System in SAT.  Both loverly people and it was a very relaxing and fun dinner we enjoyed.

We also enjoyed dinner with Joel and Lydia .  Joel is a flight paramedic who was a trainer for our EMT staff.  He is a great guy and it was nice to meet his wife.

On 13 Feb we celebrated Ross' birthday at McAdoo's Seafood Company Restaurant.  We were introduced to this great place by our dear adopted children Stephanie and Justin.  

This day it was just the two of us.

Ross, who really enjoys oysters started off lunch with 1 dozen oysters from Sunnyside, PEI when he last enjoyed them was when we lived in Canada. They did not disappoint.

This was followed by delicious mains for us both.  Dessert was shared which was Key-lime pie.

Ross' birthday fell on Strove Tuesday and the restaurant was decorated for Mardi Gras.

It was Super Bowl Sunday so we were invited to Stephanie and Justin's place to celebrate this.  The opening ceremony is spectacular and the adds are great.

Pink sang the National Anthem and she was great.

Then the came started.  The Eagles from Philadelphia and the New England Patriots from Boston .  The Eagles are the team supported by Justin and Stephanie and on this occasional the Eagles won after many years in the football wilderness. 

We had a fun night with the family.

Occasionally we enjoy lunch out and this day we popped into Pappadeaux's for a bite to eat.

We enjoyed a seafood fondaux and lobster, scrimp and crab spring roles.  Both delicious and very filling.

Then we found Coby's Bar and Bistro close to where we are staying in our RV.  Beveley had the steak salad and Ross had the Cheese board.  Both delicious. So much so we have been back 4 times.

One such time was for Valentine's Day dinner.

Champagne to start.

Following is the dinner we enjoyed.   The appertizer.

Ross enjoyed the pan seared duck breast , beet, parsnip puree, rosti and pan jus.

 Beverley enjoyed orecchiette pasta, sun dried tomato, cremini mushrooms, spinach cream, Parmesan.

Dessert was chocolate camel rice crisps, white chocolate mousse, strawberry , orange creme anglaise.

Other fare enjoyed at this restaurant, a delicious steak salad.

One of the best beef wellingtons ever eaten.

We unexpectedly ran into TJ, at Starbuck's who is a dear fiend of ours and is a Texas Ranger pilot. We were so delighted to spend time with he and his team.  

Whilst it has been raining and cold most of the time we have been back in TX on this day we were able to catch a Texas sunset.

Now that all work has been completed on our RV and Jeep we depart on Sunday 25 Feb on our trip around the USA.

Cheers,

Beverley and Ross

McAdoos Seafood Company

We were introduced to this amazing restaurant by dear friends.  Originally it was a US Post Office in New Braunfels, Texas.

Every effort has been made to retain some of its originality.  Throughout the building lights and old heaters are situated on walls depicting a bygone era.  This is complemented by appropriate furnishings.

Its hosts a fresh oyster bar and daily fly in oysters from Canada and surrounding areas.

It has become a favorite eating place for us.  This day was 13 Feb and was Ross' birthday.  It was also Shrove Tuesday.  The restaurant was all decked out for this celebration.  This is  the inside .

This is the outside entertainment area.

Ross chose this restaurant to celebrate his birthday.  He really enjoyed the oysters which were from Sunny Side in Canada.  The last time he enjoyed these oysters was when we lived in Canada and actually stayed in Sunny Side where he enjoyed  this treat.

It was a great day.  We had a lovely lunch with lots of laughter and good cheer.

We plan to head off on our next RV trip next week, this time making our way along the Gulf Coast and down to Florida before turning north for Georgia and the Carolinas.

Cheers, Bev and Ross