This Italianate house was the residence of Samuel Bell Maxey, who served two terms as a U.S. senator. Maxey fought in the U.S.-Mexican War, returning to his home in Kentucky to complete his law degree. In 1857, he came to Texas along with his father and settled in Paris, where father and son practiced law until the outbreak of the Civil War. After the war, Maxey built this two-story frame house with a two-story entrance porch on his family’s five-acre tract south of the town plaza. The Maxey house is one of the earliest Italianate residences in the state. In its massing and proportions, it demonstrates the lingering influence of Greek Revival. Occupied by the family until 1967, it was donated to the City of Paris and transferred to the state in 1976. Initial restoration was completed in 1980, with exhibits that include original furnishings, clothing, and photographs.