House at 1303 W. Louisiana

Built around 1900 about ten blocks west of McKinney's central business district, this one-and-a-half-story frame house at 1303 W. Louisiana follows a modified L plan. It has drop siding, a hip roof with gables, box eaves, and wood double-hung windows. A two-bay hip-roofed porch wraps around the north and east sides, with box supports and chamfered balusters. Decorative details include shingled gable faces, segmental-arched windows, denticulation, jig-sawn brackets, sunburst motifs, and hipped dormers. A rectangular bay window projects from the northwest corner. The house was recognized for its architecture. Many of McKinney's late nineteenth-century builders applied Queen Anne-style ornamentation to ordinary vernacular house plans, and this dwelling is an excellent illustration of that practice. The shingled gable end and angled corner bay are particularly noteworthy. Although many McKinney houses share similar detailing, this is described as one of the city's finest. It stands in a neighborhood of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century houses and remains in residential use in good condition.