The Ace of Clubs House (also known as the Draughon–Moore House) is a
historic house museum in
Texarkana, Texas.
The house is distinctively shaped like a
club, from a deck of
playing cards, with three octagon-shaped wings and a fourth rectangular wing adjoining at a central octagon-shaped stair hall.
The structure was built in 1885 as a private residence, in an
Italianate Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
architectural style.
The design resulted in the house having 22 sides.
The two-story house also features a tower and a
spiral staircase.
According to local lore, it was shaped as a club because its builder and original owner,
Confederate veteran, lumberman, and early Texarkana mayor James Draughon, built it with $10,000 that he won in a game of
poker
Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...
with an ace of clubs.
Three families have lived in the house.
In 1887, William Lowndes Whitaker, Sr., acquired the building. Whitaker lived in it until 1894, when he sold it to an attorney named Henry Moore, Sr. Henry Moore, Jr., and
Tyler Tyler may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name
* Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer
* John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...
native Olivia Smith, his wife, moved into the house in 1920. After Moore, Jr., died in 1942, his widow remained in the house until her own death in 1985, at which point it was deeded to the Texarkana Museum System in her will.
The house was refurbished in 1987, and it began operating as a museum in 1988.
Each room was restored to represent a different time period in the history of the house, spanning from 1880 to 1940.
The Ace of Clubs House caters to business and club meetings, lawn parties, portrait photography, receptions, and weddings.
In 2016, the house's lawn hosted the Texarkana Museums System's ''Moonlight & Movies'' classic film series.
The house has also hosted a Victorian Christmas celebration.
The Ace of Clubs House has been featured on the
HGTV
HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. As of February 2015, appr ...
television program ''Christmas Castles''.
It is both a property on the
National Register of Historic Places and a
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.
Gallery
File:Staircase at The Ace of Clubs House in Texarkana, Texas, more formally known as the Draughon-Moore home. The house was built in 1885 in roughly the shape of the "club" figure on the ace of clubs card LCCN2014630232.tif, Staircase inside the Ace of Clubs House
File:Bas relief detail at The Ace of Clubs House in Texarkana, Texas, more formally known as the Draughon-Moore home. The house was built in 1885 in roughly the shape of the "club" figure on the ace of LCCN2014630233.tif, Bas relief in the house
See also
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Bowie County, Texas
*
Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in Bowie County
References
External links
{{Commons category-inline, Ace of Clubs House
Historic house museums in Texas
Texarkana, Texas
Houses completed in 1885
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas
National Register of Historic Places in Bowie County, Texas
Museums in Bowie County, Texas
Italianate architecture in Texas