George Washington and Ida Bottoms House

This two-and-a-half-story brick house is one of Texarkana’s largest, most eclectic houses, and one with the most unusual proportions. Steel I-beams used in the construction made possible the dramatic horizontality of the house’s overall massing and especially the long front porch, which extends to form a porte-cochere on the north. The simple rectangular massing and the uniform color of salmon brick walls and tile roof form the background for a strong play of interlocking verticals and horizontals. Verticals are formed principally by the massive twin brick piers that flank the entrance and penetrate the porch roof to form a small balcony. The sweeping horizontals and the low, broad urns crowning the porch piers hint at the Prairie Style, not generally popular in Arkansas, whereas the half-timbering in the central dormer and gable ends, the exposed rafter ends, and the rich textures of stucco, brick, tile, and limestone speak of Craftsman preferences. The Tudor-arched entrance door is framed by a transom and sidelights in beveled glass with a tulip pattern. A massive central staircase in the large foyer rises from a screen of Tudor arches at the base of the stairs. The same arched theme appears in balustrade, paneling, and mantels downstairs. George Washington Bottoms, a native of Virginia, moved to Texarkana in 1873 and became one of the region’s most prosperous lumbermen around the turn of the twentieth century.