Lee, Walter J., House
a.k.a. #12
804 N. College St., Belton, TXThe Lee House is a good example of the dwarf hybrid of a foursquare house sometimes known as a "pyramid house" for its prominent hipped roof. Contextually, the house is related to community and Regional Development in Belton, specifically to the growth of Belton during the cotton boom years at the beginning of the century. The house is eligible for listing in the National Register under Criterion c, significant in the area of Architecture, as an intact example of this early-century house type particularly common to Belton.
The Lee House was built in 1904 by local contractors Ben D. Lee and his son Walter J. Lee. Ben D. Lee was the contractor for the Curtis House, one of the most exuberant examples of the mansions built at the turn of the century by the town's cotton barons. It is interesting that when these contractors built a house for themselves it followed a pattern book design that would have appeared quite modern at the time, yet they added the prominent finials in a touch of Queen Anne eclecticism quite inconsistent with the house's design. The 1 1/2-story foursquare plan, or pyramid house, was being used elsewhere in Belton at this time, as illustrated by the James A. Ferguson House (site #8) built by T. Hamp Birdwell in the same year. It is an example of the new architectural influences imported to Belton via pattern books around the turn of the century.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.