Barclay-Bryan House

The Barclay-Bryan House is a boldly designed example of Colonial Revival architecture that exhibits an uncommon use of giant-order Roman porticos on three facades. It was constructed about 1913-1915 for William Anderson Barclay, a wealthy Temple entrepreneur with area-wide business interests, and reflects his high social and professional status. One of a dozen fashionable, large-scale, and prominently sited homes built in Temple early in the 20th century, the house is one of only two large residences in Temple to use classical forms and details. The Barclay-Bryan House ranks as one of the most significant Revival structures in Bell County.

In 1890, when native Texan William Anderson Barclay moved to Temple, he was a 41-year old entrepreneur with a history of diverse and successful business endeavors. During the 1870s, he had profitably established several mercantile stores along the heavily traveled Chisolm Trail in Falls County, Texas. With capital from the sale of one of his stores, he formed a ranching partnership with his wife's brother-in-law, an operation that eventually spread to more than 14 sections of land. The small community of Barclay grew up at the site of one of his stores, and was named for him; Barclay later served as the town's postmaster. By 1886, he had built a large, two-story, high-Victorian home for his family in this town.

After his move to Temple (1890), which was experiencing remarkable growth, Barclay purchased a high-Victorian house in town while ranching and maintaining his country home, "Crenshaw," in nearby Falls County. In Temple, Barclay's interests turned to banking, land development, and continued mercantile endeavors. During the 1890s and early years of the 20th century, Barclay established or purchased many businesses in Temple and in nearby towns, including a plow factory, a cottonseed oil mill, a bank, a jewelry store, and a furniture store. Through his friendship with President Dias, he opened mines in Mexico, serving as president of the Mexican-American Smelting and Refining Company until the 1910 Revolution.

Along with Jonathan Moore, Goodrich Jones, and other prominent Temple citizens, Barclay chartered the Temple City Company in the early 1890s with $50,000 capital to develop land, build homes, and make loans. One of their developments was the residential district of Freeman Heights, a large subdivision in the southwest corner of town where the Santa Fe Hospital, Temple's first, was built the next year. It was across the street from that hospital that Barclay later purchased lots to build his last, most fashionable, and most ambitious home.

Barclay purchased the adjoining northeastern 5 lots of block 57 in Temple in 1911. The lots were located south of the Santa Fe Hospital, constructed in 1908 and designed by architect Wyatt Hedrick. Tax records indicate that between 1911 and 1913 Barclay probably razed a small frame house located on the lots he purchased. The stylish Colonial Revival house was begun about 1913, while Temple city directories and tax records show that it was completed by 1915. It is well documented that the house cost $65,000 to build, with each giant column costing $1,000.