King House, 405 W Louisiana St
The King House is a National Register House constructed in 1926. The house is a permutation of the American Four-square style. A denticulate frieze wraps the porch and second story roofs. A small eyebrow-style dormer with round segmental arch and divided lite window punctuates the front face of the house’s hipped roof. Round arched windows placed in A-B-A patterns allow shaded sunlight into the north elevation. Outbuildings include a brick garage and a gazebo with brick columns. The house features decorative brick walls and generous porches overlooking West Louisiana and Mitchell Park.
This circa 1930 Tudor Revival brick home stands on the south side of Hunt Street. The original family constructed the home as a duplex to provide an income for the family. The house has a slate roof with a centrally located fireplace. Two nonsymmetrical gables protrude from the northern façade. Limestone trims the windows and doors. This style became very popular between the 1920s and 1930s. The Tudor Revival style reflects elements and forms from English residences during the era of Henry VIII and his Tudor dynasty.
The Brown-Galbraith House was constructed circa 1905. It is one of the few historic homes in McKinney where we know the name of the architect, J. E. Flanders of Dallas. Mr. Flanders also designed the First Methodist Church as well as a handful of other houses located in McKinney. The Brown-Galbraith House has a City of McKinney Historic Marker. This house features a large porch that wraps around its south side. The house boasts several classical revival features including Doric Columns, a triangular pediment above the front steps, and a decorative frieze running along the underside of the wide roof eaves.
This circa 1915 home presents many characteristics of the Prairie style, including large overhanging eaves, windows grouped in multiples of two and three, and a hipped roof. The long front porch and shallow roofs accentuate the horizontality of the building, another common element of this style. Gibson Caldwell owned the house from 1924–1981. He managed the Collin County Mill & Elevator Company. George Fox was the architect.
This Folk Victorian Carpenter Gothic style home stands on the west side of Parker Street. The L-plan house features a gable roof with a cross gable projecting towards the street. A three-sided bay window protrudes from this face and a generous porch greets visitors. Scroll work brackets and spindled balusters add a delicate touch to the porch. Deep porches, such as the one here, provide passive cooling by shading the front wall of the house, providing protection to operable windows during inclement weather.
The Dr. Jonas Knight House was occupied in May of 1915. It is predominately a Craftsman-style bungalow sporting false rafters and knee-bracing. Shingle siding clads the house with a lap siding profiled foundation skirt. The clipped gables add a distinctive look to this façade. The designer and builder was W. J. Higgins. The Knight family occupied the house from 1915 until Kathleen Knight's death in 1972. The house has a McKinney Historic Marker.
The Bevel House, located at 405 Chestnut St, is a circa 1920 Craftsman style house built by Mr. and Mrs. Bevel. Following a disastrous 2007 fire, the house was restored and converted into a reception and event space at Chestnut Square Village. The large porch has tapered columns and exposed rafter tails, which are hallmarks of the Craftsman style. The vertical mullions on the upper sash of the windows are a common window style in historic McKinney houses.
This circa 1905 American four-square features classical revival and Victorian features. The pedimented porch roof above the front stair and the dentil frieze along the porch represent classical styles. The colorful shingle gable cladding, bracket moldings and prominent wraparound porch bring Victorian stylings to this home.
Built in 1854, this is the oldest known building and the only known example of Greek Revival style architecture of this age located in McKinney. Symmetry, a distinguishing feature of classical revival architecture, is evident in the matching pairs of punched windows set on either side of the prominent porch. The triangular pediment over the front steps announces the front entry with another common classical revival form. John Faires was a local blacksmith and cabinet maker. The house was relocated to the Chestnut Square site in the late 1970s, and is a Texas Historic Landmark.
Built beginning in 1880 with additional floors added in 1894, the L. A. Scott House is unique in combining Queen Anne and Classical Revival architecture. The prominent two-story porch has Postclassical revival Ionic columns, and a triangular pediment. The three-story octagonal tower on the west corner, wraparound porch, asymmetrical layout, and varied roof styles contribute to its Queen Anne flair. The numerous tall windows and deep porches hint to its construction before mechanical air cooling systems. Mr. L. A. Scott, the second owner of the home, was a president of the Collin County National Bank and an agent for the H&TC Railroad. The house is listed on the National Register and is a Texas Historic Landmark.
The Abernathy-Bowen-Couch house was constructed in 1891. This Victorian style farmhouse has imbricated shingles decorating the gables and weatherboard siding covering the walls. Gideon Abernathy, brother of William Abernathy, constructed the house in 1891. This house received a City of McKinney Historic Marker in 2012.
The James Waller Thomas house is a Registered Texas Historic Landmark and has a City of McKinney historic marker. It was initially built in 1868 as one room, and all other additions were completed prior to 1902. The house was constructed with a rough-hewn timber foundation and mortise-and-tenon framing. The design was changed throughout the years to meet the needs of the families who lived there. James W. Thomas was the first newspaper editor to live in McKinney. His son, also James, served as McKinney's Postmaster.
The Bristol house was constructed in 1893 by R. E. Bristol. It is an eclectic mix of Prairie and Italianate styles. The broad overhangs showcase the Prairie style while the Doric columns along each porch bring Italianate flair. In 1919, the house was purchased by the Everett family. Mrs. Everett was the daughter of R.M. Board.