Berclair Mansion

You need to keep your eyes open when you are driving around Texas. we were driving from the Goliad State Park to Beeville, Texas. Along the way we drove through Berclair, Texas. It was once a very busy town. It had an active railroad, with freight and passenger service, and variety of businesses.

Today the railroad track is gone and most of the businesses are gone. Driving through, We did see a post office and a small store whose sign says the "Berclair Country Store – BBQ – TACOS – GOOD FOOD – GAS". (They do sell gasoline from the pumps out front.) and that was about all that was there.

Then there was a sign a sign that said "Berclair Mansion" with an arrow pointing up a narrow street. We turned down the road and discovered the Berclair Mansion. That is where our discovery began.

A 75-year-old widow built the mansion in 1936. Etta Wilkinson Terrell built the house to fulfill a promise she made to her family many years before after the family home burned. When it was finally finished, the house took up 10,000 square feet, featuring 10 bedrooms and six bathrooms.

The house is fireproof, made of concrete and 60 tons of structural steel. When it was constructed, it was the largest steel structure single-family home in the United States. The cost of construction neared $100,000, an unheard of sum in 1936.

The home consists of two floors, all furnished with exquisite antiques. The home has a basement and attic. There are 10 bedrooms and 4 full and 2 half bathrooms. A grand reception room, formal. and informal living rooms, formal and informal dining rooms, sewing room, pump room, laundry room, and 2 grand hallways the length of the house. and an elevator, in addition to two sets of staircases.

On the spacious grounds of the home you will find a Gate Keeper's cottage and Terrell Hall.

Your going to have to go see it to believe it.