Ware, H. A. and Helena, House
a.k.a. #20
401 N. Pearl St., Belton, TXThe Ware House, built about 1895, is a product of the spread of the Eastlake and Italianate styles at the end of the 19th century and their application to accepted vernacular house forms. Contextually, the house relates to Community and Regional Development, specifically to the growth of Belton during the cotton boom years around the turn of the century. The house meets National Register Criterion c, significant in the area of Architecture, as a well-preserved example of the popular house type of the late Victorian era.
The Ware House was built around 1895 for H. A. and Helena A. Ware. Ware was a prominent banker and major stockholder in the Belton Water Company. The house was among the first in town to be served by electricity. In 1927, it was bought by Roy Smith and members of the Smith family have owned it ever since. For a time the house served as a boarding home for students at Baylor College for Women (now the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor). During World War II, the house was remodeled into apartments for the families from nearby Fort Hood.
The Ware House illustrates the way that popular stylistic details were applied by local builders to establish vernacular house forms. It is a catalog of the architectural embellishments readily available in the late 19th century: jigsawn and spindle porch details, decorated bargeboards, fancy brackets, and dentil trim, as well as the "Queen Anne style" decorative-pane windows. While decorated L-plan houses were once quite common in Texas, few survive with their details intact. The Ware House is notable for its state of preservation.
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.