{"nrhp_refnum":"83004501","name":"Heard House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"620 W. San Antonio St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Marcos","county":"Hays County","state":"TX","lat":29.879542680000043,"lon":-97.94673444399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-08-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story-plus-attic white frame Victorian house at 620 West San Antonio Street in San Marcos, Hays County, Texas, built about 1888 for rancher Samuel McGehee Heard.","why_significant":"The house is described as the last of the local turreted mansions and a fine example of a Victorian type popular for its romantic, grandiose profile. The porch trim and wooden interior finishes are particularly notable. It also reflects the period when successful ranchers and farmers built town houses for social and financial advantages.","narrative":"Built around 1888 at 620 West San Antonio Street in San Marcos, this white frame house has two stories plus an attic, a complex hipped roof with crossed gables, and a bell-shaped octagonal turret. A one-story porch wraps the front and east corner, with a second-floor porch set between the turret and an ell. Decoration is concentrated on the street facade: stylized lyres under the eaves, sawn brackets, turned posts and spindle rails. Inside, pocket doors, bullseye moldings, an oak and ceramic tile fireplace and a coffered stair spandrel remain. The house was built for Samuel McGehee Heard, a rancher who came to Texas from Arkansas as a child and bought the lot in 1888. It is described as the last of the town's turreted mansions. Later changes include a 1920s sleeping porch, composition shingles in 1944 and a kitchen addition in 1954. Heard family members lived there until 1944.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Texas Victorian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence; condition described as good, with alterations that had minimal impact on integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.037748-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/27/9695/40969527/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/83004501.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004501/278d1d843e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004501/278d1d843e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heard_house_2008.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heard_house_2008.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40969527","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110000464"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/hays-county/heard-house-83004501/"}