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LaRoe-Ryon House aka "Celtic House"   414 W. Spruce Street Gowdy Addition The
house was originally built by LaRoe Lumber Co. in 1900 by Dr. Johnson's
mother and father, who sold it to their son on his marriage. Mr.
and Mrs. Lucien LaRoe moved into the house as bride and groom.
The house was later owned by P.R. Johnson and Paul Ryon in 1936. The house was made of poplar wood with wooden floors throughout. The hand-carved, solid wood moldings were the same as the ones in the formal living and dining areas throughout the house, as are the doors underneath the paint. The moldings were painted over in the bedrooms; however, they are the same as are in the rest of the house. The shelves in the closets are the original shelves with few exceptions; and the door hardware is intact. Ms. Ryon had the original "skeleton" key that fit the front door lock. When Dr. Johnson's father died, his mother moved back into the house and it was changed somewhat to accomodate two families. The original kitchen and kitchen pantry were in the rear of the house; that was changed to a west facing bedroom. Dr. Johnson added a new kitchen onto the house. The closet in the west bedroom that has a round window replaced the kitchen pantry. The hall was divided the two living quarters where his mother lived until her death. The wallboard was installed in the early 1950s; underneath the wallboard the original wallpaper canvas covered in a print fabric-like cheesecloth was kept. The banisters and columns on the front porch were original to the home but the flooring of the porch was rebuilt several times, the most recent in 1990. The house originally had only a privy that Mr. Ryon removed as soon as he moved into the house Whitewright did not have city water until 1991 and at the time Mr. Ryon installed the indoor bathroom at the back of the house. The original well was located underneath the floor of the back porch, which was a screened porch and was built during the mid-1960s. At that time the original steps were wood but were replace with concrete steps. The roof was replaced in the 1990s. The house was still wired with the original wiring. Mr. Ryan died in 1998 and the house was leveled the same year.  Whitewright History Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |