Ellis, James H. and Molly, House

The James H. and Molly Ellis House, a c. 1905 frame dwelling built on the Ellis family farm, is an outstanding example of the vernacular variations on Classical Revival architectural forms and detailing. The elaborate 1-story house, with its wrap-around porch, bay windows, and complex roof form, displays elements of both late-Victorian-era and Classical Revival design and is the only example of its type in South Dallas, south of Grand Avenue between Central Expressway on the west and the Trunk line on the east. It also reflects the transition of far South Dallas from a turn-of-the-century, truck-farming, and fruit-growing community to a suburban commuter neighborhood of craftsmen and businessmen. The Ellis House is nominated in the area of Architecture as an outstanding and significant local example of residential architecture. The Ellis House is associated with the historic context, The Development of East and South Dallas: 1872-1945.

The earliest known occupant of the Ellis House was James H. Ellis, one of the first residents listed on Pine Street in the 1911 Dallas city directory. The house probably predates 1911, appearing to be ca. 1905, but Pine Street (previously known as Spencer) was far outside the Dallas city limits before 1911 and was not adequately represented in earlier directories. James H. Ellis was a descendant of pioneer, James Henry Ellis, who moved to Dallas County with his parents as a child in 1846. In 1872, he settled on a 289-acre farm that included the Ellis House property. James H. Ellis and his wife, Molly, were the first known occupants of the house, and Mrs. Ellis continued to live in the house after James' death, in about 1926. At about that time the street name changed from Spencer to Pine. Mrs. Ellis was joined in the house by her daughter Mary E. and son-in-law James B. Mann from about 1930 through the early 1940s. Mrs. Ellis was listed in city directories as the owner from 1930 through 1940, although Bracey's plat maps show Mann as the owner in 1937. Mann was a clerk with the Pittsburgh Plate Glass company whose family had lived on a nearby farm as early as 1907 (city directories, 1911-1940; Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas).

During the years that James and Molly Ellis resided in their Pine Street house, they not only witnessed but participated in the development of the surrounding acreage from farmland to suburban additions to the city of Dallas. James H. Ellis was a real estate agent who shared an office with A. S. Exline, Caven Realty, and Middleton Realty in 1911. All were involved in the subdivision and development of real estate along the Ervay streetcar line in lower Colonial Hill and adjacent areas of far South Dallas at that time between about 1910 and 1920. In 1910, a number of new additions had been platted near the Ellis House, including the Reinle Addition, immediately to the east. As suburban farmland became more valuable for residential development than for agricultural use, real estate developers like Ellis purchased the farmland and planted new additions to the city of Dallas. While the Ellis House was located in the midst of this suburban development, it was eventually surrounded by, but never part of, a platted addition.

The Ellis House more accurately represents a vestige of the rural farm life that preceded the new subdivisions. It is the only known residence in South Dallas that survives from the pre-suburban development era when most far South Dallas residents were small farmers and orchardists (ca. 1870-1907). The spacious frame farmhouses of Pietro Sabatoni, Ellen Eason, William Peyton and James Greer, whose Sanborn map images appear very similar to the Ellis House, were still standing as late as 1922 but were demolished soon after for subsequent intensive residential development (Sanborn maps, 1922; city directories, deed records and abstracts).

The Ellis House is also significant as a noteworthy example of vernacular domestic architecture with some Classical Revival detailing. During the early 20th century, the Classical Revival style attained widespread popularity in Dallas, especially among the city's wealthiest residents. The style also appealed to less-affluent individuals, many of whom merely applied Classical Revival-styled detailing onto more traditional house forms. The Ellis House, with its T-shaped plan, is an illustration of the latter trend. It also is one of the oldest and best-preserved historic dwellings in South Dallas.