Each legendary home harbors a couple of city legends. The 1892 Bishop’s Palace in Galveston, Texas – aka the Walter and Josephine Gresham Home – is extensively celebrated as one of many best Victorian residences in america. But behind its partitions of limestone, granite, and sandstone lies a set of cussed myths which have circulated via tour teams and newspaper clippings for over a century.
Did a secret tunnel actually hyperlink the basement to the church subsequent door? Did its well-known fireplaces take prime honors at worldwide expositions? We dug into the archives to set the file straight on six of essentially the most enduring Bishop’s Palace myths.
Go to the 1892 Bishop’s Palace with Redfin
Wish to marvel at this architectural masterpiece in particular person? Head over to the 1892 Bishop’s Palace on Redfin to be taught extra in regards to the house and join a free tour on December 12, courtesy of Redfin.
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Fantasy vs. Actuality: Bishop’s Palace Version
When a house seems like a Nineteenth-century fort on the Texas coast, it’s certain to gather a couple of tall tales. Over the previous 130 years, previous information clippings and tour lore have blurred the road between reality and legend at Bishop’s Palace.
To get the actual story, we linked with the historic crew at Galveston Historic Basis on what historical past truly bought proper – and improper – about this Texas landmark.
Fantasy #1: Builders constructed a tunnel connecting the basement to Sacred Coronary heart Church so the bishop may stroll there with out getting rained on.
Actuality: The house was commissioned and constructed between 1888 and 1892 as a non-public residence for lawyer and railroad entrepreneur Walter Gresham, Josephine Gresham, and their youngsters – not the Catholic clergy. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Galveston didn’t purchase the property till 1923, when Bishop Christopher E. Byrne took up residence, giving the house its lasting nickname.
Moreover, the present Sacred Coronary heart Church throughout 14th Avenue didn’t exist when the home was accomplished. The unique 1892 church constructing was destroyed in the course of the 1900 Galveston hurricane, and the current church was constructed between 1904 and 1910. No subterranean tunnel has ever linked the 2 properties.
Fantasy #2: The home rode out the 1900 Storm utterly unscathed, and the Greshams turned away refugees.
Actuality: Walter Gresham was so outraged by a post-storm report alleging he turned refugees away that he instantly revealed a fiery rebuttal within the native press, saying that his household sheltered greater than 100 folks in the course of the catastrophic hurricane.
As for escaping harm, a private letter written by the Greshams’ cook dinner describes how nearly each window in the home was damaged by the storm, and the way the wooden flooring on the primary degree had buckled as a consequence of water from the storm surge. The cook dinner wrote that the flooring needed to be pried as much as dry, and all of the substitute glass was bought however remained stacked within the basement whereas the household waited for obtainable native labor to finish repairs.
Fantasy #3: The principle parlor’s carved mahogany mantel gained first prize on the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition.
Actuality: The Renaissance Revival fire encompass in the principle parlor was designed by the house’s architect, Nicholas J. Clayton, nicely after 1876. Clayton’s authentic drawing for the fireside is preserved within the Galveston County Museum assortment with a word indicating it ought to be despatched to Josephine Gresham in Paris for approval – proving it was commissioned for the home reasonably than acquired from the Philadelphia world’s honest.
Fantasy #4: Walter Gresham bought the music room’s silver-and-onyx mantel for $10K after it gained a prize on the 1886 New Orleans world’s honest.
Actuality: This declare stems from an misguided 1937 report printed in an area newspaper. To begin, New Orleans didn’t host a world’s honest in 1886; the World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition ran in New Orleans from December 1884 via Could 1885. There isn’t any file of this silver-and-onyx mantel being exhibited or acquired there. The identical 1937 information piece additionally mistakenly reported that Clayton started establishing the Gresham Home in 1880, underscoring the article’s unreliability.
Fantasy #5: The American Institute of Architects ranked the house among the many Prime 100 Most Vital Buildings in america.
Actuality: The Gresham Home was highlighted within the publication “One Hundred Years of Structure in America, 1857 – 1957: Celebrating the Centennial of the American Institute of Architects.” Nonetheless, this e book showcased 75 buildings representing a century of design; the AIA has by no means compiled an official Prime 100 checklist.
When the group later celebrated its a hundred and fiftieth anniversary with a top-150 ballot of “America’s Favourite Structure,” Bishop’s Palace didn’t make the minimize – although the Texas State Capitol did.
Fantasy #6: In 1956, Bishop’s Palace was the one Texas construction named among the many nation’s 100 most excellent buildings.
Actuality: For its centennial celebration in 1956, the AIA assembled a panel of fifty architects to appoint vital buildings constructed over the previous century. Architectural Report revealed these picks throughout a number of points between June 1956 and April 1957, categorized by constructing varieties. Whereas 14 residences had been honored throughout the nation – together with three within the class of “Homes Constructed Earlier than 1907” – the Gresham Home was not amongst them.
