W.H. Stark House to Reopen November 4
October 8, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact: Patsy Herrington
The W.H. Stark House Director
pherrington@whstarkhouse.org
409.883.0871
ORANGE, Texas, October 8, 2008 – The W.H. Stark House, which has been closed for public tours since early September 2008 due to considerations relating to Hurricane Ike, will reopen and resume public tours on Tuesday, November 4, 2008.
According to Director Patsy Herrington, The W.H. Stark House suffered only minor damage from the hurricane, but the Carriage House, which is located behind the Stark House on the same block, did not fare as well. The flooding in downtown Orange that resulted from the hurricane’s storm surge caused approximately 18 inches of water to penetrate into the first floor of the Carriage House.
“The decorative arts collection on display in the Carriage House suffered minor damages from the water intrusion, while the office space in the Carriage House received considerably greater damage,” Herrington explained. “The entire building has now been emptied of both contents and personnel, and the director’s and admissions offices have been relocated to temporary quarters.” The Carriage House will be closed for an indefinite period while repairs are made.
Guided visitor tours of the Stark House will resume on Tuesday, November 4. Beginning November 4 and continuing until the Carriage House is reopened, all tours for the Stark House will begin at the Stark Museum of Art, which is located at 712 Green Ave. in downtown Orange, diagonally across Green Ave. from the Stark House. Visitors to the Stark House are asked to park at the Museum parking lot, which is located across 7th Street from the Museum, one block from the Stark House.
Visitors are then asked to enter the Stark Museum of Art lobby area, which will serve as the starting point for Stark House tours, including ticketing, scheduled tour groups and related information. Stark House guiding staff members will meet all visitors and escort them to the Stark House.
Beginning Tuesday, November 4, the Stark House will be open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission for tours of The W.H. Stark House is $5.00 for adults ages 18 to 65, $2.00 for seniors ages 65 and older and $2.00 for youth ages 10 to 17. Tour participants must be 10 years of age or older. Special group pricing is available for group tours that are scheduled in advance.
Despite the temporary relocation of the operating offices for the Stark House, the contact information for the Stark House staff remains the same. For updates and further information, including tour information, please visit www.whstarkhouse.org or call 409.883.0871.
About the W.H. Stark House
The W.H. Stark House is a Victorian landmark in Orange, Texas, which has been restored to its original splendor.
The 14,000 square-foot home was completed in 1894 in Orange, Texas, by William Henry Stark and his wife, Miriam M. Lutcher Stark, prominent philanthropists who occupied the home until 1936. Designed in the Queen Anne architectural style, the house features a distinctive turret, stained glass windows, and ornate woodwork in cypress and long leaf yellow pine.
Today, the three-story structure stands much as it did at the turn of the 20th century, with fifteen rooms of original family furnishings, personal effects and decorative arts, including antique rugs, original textiles, silver, cut glass and antique porcelain. Also featured are the W.H. Stark family’s impressive collections of American Brilliant Period cut glass, pressed and pattern glass, milk glass, porcelains, and other 18th and 19th century decorative accessories. The interior of both The W.H. Stark House and its adjacent Carriage House depicts the home life of the W.H. Starks in the early 1900s and provides an extraordinary statement of Texas’ social history.
The W.H. Stark House is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and designated as a Record Texas Historic Landmark by the Texas Historical Commission. It is operated as a program of the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, a private foundation established in 1961 by H.J. Lutcher Stark -- the only surviving child of Miriam M. and W.H. Stark – and his wife, Nelda C. Stark.
###