{"nrhp_refnum":"70000775","name":"Houston, Mrs. Sam, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"FM 390, 1 block E of jct. with FM 50","address_restricted":false,"city":"Independence","county":"Washington County","state":"TX","lat":30.31911685800003,"lon":-96.34509849599999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-10-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame residence built in the early 1830s by John Bancroft Root, located on FM 390 one block east of FM 50 in Independence, Washington County, Texas.","why_significant":"The house is tied to the Houston family. Margaret Lea Houston, widow of Sam Houston, lived there from 1863 until her death in 1867. It is also an early, fine example of an elegant two-story Texas house, built when most buildings were log.","narrative":"Built in the early 1830s by John Bancroft Root, this two-story frame house in Independence, Texas, dates from the earliest period of Anglo settlement, when most buildings were made of logs. It has horizontal siding, a gable roof, a two-story front porch with a pedimented gable, a wide center hall with two large rooms on each floor, and a stone chimney at each end. A rear ell is said to include the original separate kitchen, later joined to the house by a glassed-in breezeway. The house is also tied to Margaret Moffette Lea Houston, widow of Sam Houston. After his death in 1863 she moved here with their eight children from Huntsville and lived in the house until she died in December 1867. It was recognized for this association with the Houston family and as a fine early example of an elegant two-story Texas residence. The 1839 President's house in Austin was very similar to it.","period_of_significance":"early 1830s","architect_builder":"John Bancroft Root","architectural_style":"Greek Revival (simple Greek Revival double porch with pedimented gable)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in good condition, altered, on its original site, and in use as a private residence. Recent owners left it generally unchanged apart from a glassed-in breezeway joining the kitchen building to the main house.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.490391-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/34/9739/40973934/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/70000775.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000775/913c4f9aa4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000775/913c4f9aa4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SamHoustonHouse2.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SamHoustonHouse2.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973934","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Sam_Houston_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6929873"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/washington-county/houston-mrs-sam-house-70000775/"}