The Fulton Mansion is one of the few surviving examples of a grand Victorian villa. It looks out onto the bay. Architectur- ally, it was ahead of its time.
As the third picture explains, it had all of the modern conveniences. The unique feature that impressed us was its construction: 20-inch thick shellcrete footings and all exterior walls were cribbed construction such as you'd find in a wooden grain elevator. Cribbing involves stacking--in this case, 2 x 6's--one on top of another and spiking them together to create a 6-inch thick, solid wooden wall. (Shellcrete is concrete in which clam shells have been used for aggregate.) The floors are also cribbed and
supported by steel beams. It is said that the house contains enough wood to build 20 conventional houses. It's no wonder it has withstood multiple hurricanes!
The house was purchased by the Texas Historical Commission and restored beginning in the 70s. Because Mrs. Fulton had given the Commission a huge quantity of paper, they were able to find details about colors and textures and furnishings thus were able to restore the interior of the house to virtually original condition.
The last picture shows a 12 foot windmill wheel which was blown into a tree by a hurricane in 1919. The tree about one block behind the mansion. We have no idea why the windmill was never removed from the tree! The same hurricane was said to have blown hundreds of cattle onto shore from a ranch on an island four miles offshore.
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