Umphress-Taylor House

Prominently sited on a large, corner lot in the North Texas town of Van Alstyne (population 1,860), the Umphress-Taylor House is a substantial and largely intact example of a turn-of-the-century residence in a transitional Queen Anne/Colonial Revival architectural vocabulary. It was constructed for locally prominent citizen James Causby Umphress (1841-1917) and his wife, née Julia Caroline Veasey (d. 1932), and remained in their family until 1974.

James C. Umphress was born in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, in 1841. He served in the Confederate Army in the Civil War, and in 1866 married Julia Caroline Veasey. The Umphresses moved to Texas in 1870 and to the fledgling town of Van Alstyne in the northern part of the state in 1890. Umphress became prominent in the area as a landowner, banker, agriculturalist, and community leader. He was also an active Mason and member of the Methodist Church, as well as the father of nine children.

In 1903, when Van Alstyne's future seemed brightest, James and Julia Umphress began construction of a residence destined to become one of the most substantial in the town. Their architect-builder was Scotland-born John Tulloch (1860-1947), who designed a number of notable homes, churches, and public buildings in Grayson County, including the Sherman Public Library and the Munson House in Denison.

Stylistically, the Umphress House borrows from several traditions. The massing of the house, as well as the telescoping octagonal tower and ornamental shingles, suggest Queen Anne-Eastlake influence, while the dormer window with rounded corners and the gable end with inset rounded sections (on all facades) demonstrate some exposure to the Shingle Style. The wrap-around porch and balconies supported by Doric columns are typical of early Colonial Revival residences. The structure is not unlike large pattern-book homes of the period but has considerable visual prominence and presence in the Van Alstyne context that added to its significance.

Of added interest is the fact that John Taylor of Van Alstyne was so taken with the design of the house that he borrowed its plans and duplicated them. That house burned in the 1920s, but Taylor's son Spencer (d. 1943) married Umphress' daughter (Sallie) Maude, and the couple made their home in the Umphress House for many years.
James Umphress died in 1917 and his widow in 1932. Maude Umphress Taylor continued to reside in the house until 1974, and she died three years later at age 91.

The structure became a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1981 and was recently acquired by George and Diana Kerns of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.