James L. Landrum House, South side of U.S. Highway 281 (Military Highway), approximately 850 feet east of FM 2520, San Benito, Cameron County, TX

STORED ON SITE. mchr
Significance: The James L. Landrum House is both architecturally and historically significant at the local level. Completed in 1902, the house is historically significant as the residence of James L. Landrum, who designed and lived in the house and was prominent in Lower Rio Grande Valley business and civic history. Landrum was a partner with Sam Robertson and Benjamin Hicks in the
San Benito Land and Water Company that was responsible for the development of the town of San Benito. Landrum's 1,100-acre Rancho Ciprés
(Cypress Ranch) was established by his father-in-law, Stephen Powers, an attorney for General Zachary Taylor during the Mexican-American War and former mayor of Brownsville. Rancho Ciprés was a cotton plantation that later was sharecropped. Fronting Old Military Highway, the house was a frequent stopping point for the U.S. military and for missionaries who travelled the
valley on horseback at a time when the valley was mostly large ranches and plantations. The house is architecturally significant as an excellent example of rural residential architecture in a vernacular interpretation of the neo-classical
revival and Victorian styles. It is an imposing, two-story house of blonde brick made onsite. Cypress lumber used in the stairway, ceilings, floors, doors, and door and window trim was brought from New Orleans. The house has an L-plan with a two-story main block with central hall under a side gable roof, and a one-story projecting rear wing for the kitchen and dining room. Notable architectural features are the 17"-thick load-bearing masonry walls; wall dormers on the front and rear facades; quoins on the building corners; Victorian-style scrollwork detailing on roof gable ends, dormer gables, and rear porch supports; voussoir brick window and door lintels with drop ends; tiles with year of construction (1902) and James L. Landrum's initials (JLL); front door with transom and sidelights; and a rear door with fanlight transom and sidelights accessing a small vestibule transitioning the rear wing and living room. Rear porches run the south main facade and east rear wing facade to form a rear courtyard. The house remained in the Landrum family until 1972.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1907
Survey number: HABS TX-3548
Building/structure dates: 1902 Initial Construction