The Scanlan Mansion is GONE!

/ Mick McCrary

November 14, 2017

UPDATE: While using Google Maps recently to see the extent of Hurricane Harvey flooding in the area where I live, I made a startling discovery: the Scanlan Mansion is gone! The home site has been completely cleared. I presume that when I visited the site of the mansion earlier this year that the work being done was in preparation for demolition. I have no idea what the plans are for the site but I know that many people thought that the house was historically significant and that the developer of Sienna Plantation had plans to preserve it. Perhaps there are plans to rebuild it somewhere else. I’ll update this site if I find out more information.

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The Scanlan Mansion used to be visible at the end of these two rows of trees.

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Google Maps view of the former site of the Scanlan Mansion

Originally published on February 2, 2017:

On a Sunday last December, I rode my bike 15 miles to reach a two mile section of gravel road. I cycled that road from end to end and back to the beginning for a total of four miles. Was it worth the 30 mile round trip? It certainly was. I was on a mission to see the Scanlan Mansion.

The Scanlan Mansion is located on Scanlan Road, a gravel road crossing private property in Fort Bend County. The road is unpaved and is gated at its eastern end (at TX 521). There’s another gate about one mile from where I entered the road at its intersection with Waters Lake Boulevard in the Sienna Plantation master-planned community. The road continues west from Waters Lake Boulevard all the way to the Brazos River (but I didn’t explore that section). Scanlan Road bisects the recently developed southern section of Sienna Plantation.

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Scanlan Road near the Scanlan Mansion

The Scanlan Mansion was built in 1937 by the daughters of Thomas Howe Scanlan, who was mayor of Houston from 1870-1873. Scanlan immigrated from Ireland in 1853 and made a fortune by smuggling cotton through Mexico. He used his wealth to invest in real estate in Houston and Galveston. Scanlan was a consequential mayor who worked to eliminate corruption and champion the cause of the freedmen. He appointed blacks to the police force, the board of city alderman and he supported the candidacies of blacks running for city council. He died in 1906 and left his multi-million dollar estate of real estate and oil properties to his seven daughters.

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The view of the mansion from Scanlan Road.

Two of the daughters, Lillian and Stella, never married and lived in the family home when it was located on Main Street in Houston. In 1937, the sisters clashed with the city when it wanted to cut down their favorite oak tree on the street in front of their home for a road widening project. The sisters were not successful in challenging the city to save the tree and decided to dismantle the mansion and rebuild it on their property in Fort Bend County near the town of Arcola. They called their property Sienna Plantation, after Saint Catherine of Siena, the patron saint of single-women.

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There are lots of oak trees along Scanlan Road.

They lived in the mansion until their deaths in 1948 and 1950. Prior to their deaths, the sisters formed the Scanlan Foundation, a trust developed to benefit various Catholic charities. The Catholic Diocese of Houston-Galvestion used the plantation from 1955 to 1967 as a retreat for the Cenacle Sisters.

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This crumbling, brick fence borders the mansion property.

The property was restored in the early part of the development of the Sienna Plantation community and in 1997 was used as a marketing center. I’m not sure what happened to the property after that but the house does look like it has been recently occupied. The developer, Hillwood Residential, has taken steps to preserve the property by enlisting a group of history-minded volunteers and the Fort Bend County Historical Commission to determine the condition of the house and advise on long term plans.

As for the Scanlan family, they are buried in the Glenwood Cemetery in Houston and their name lives on as roads in the Sienna Plantation development. In addition to Scanlan Road, there is Scanlan Trace which circumnavigates the original development. Cyclists in the area know the route as the Scanlan Shuffle. In Houston, there is the Scanlan Building at the corner of Main and Preston. It was built in 1909 as a memorial to the deceased patriarch of the family and was the first building in Houston to be greater than 10 stories tall (it’s 11).

Note that the Scanlan mansion is private property and there are many no trespassing signs posted.

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The front of the mansion.

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The rear of the mansion.

 

17 thoughts on “The Scanlan Mansion is GONE!”

      • Hello Mick…Sorry to bother you, I have been looking for this house and sad to find that they tore it down. I am also trying to find the Sugar Purgery, Sugar Mill, Sugar Barn..all the same place. I was hoping that they didn’t tear it down and wanting to see if anyone knows how to get to it so I can see if with my own eyes. I am not sure if it’s down MCkeever, or Fenn, 521 etc. Would you happen to know how to even get on the right road to see the Sugar Mill where the Enslaved built and created sugar? I know that the Sugar Bowls are at the park on Scanlan trace, and the Bell from the Scanlan House is there also. I am so tring to find it. If you have any knowledge of the right road I can take to get a chance to see it, I would Greatly appreciate that. I hope you have a awesome week and I look forward to hearing from you when you have the time.

        Ouida R.

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  2. I grew up there. My grandfather was the foreman on Sienna Plantation. We lived in the little house right next door to the mansion. I used to play in the mansion, and catch frogs in the fountain out front. Behind the mansion were offices that I loved exploring and imagining what life was like back then. The doors in the offices still had names on them from when it was run I guess by a Catholic Church or something. At the second entrance to the mansion, near the end of the road, there was a small makeshift cemetery under huge trees. Our pasture was out back, where we had cows, horses, rabbits, and a garden. Behind our house was a one room apartment attached to a wash room filled with old large commercial looking washers. So many great memories of this place. Sad to read that it is now all gone.

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    • Hi, I’m sorry for the delay in responding to your note. I can imagine how you feel and I’m still surprised that they tore the mansion down. I’ve not seen a thing in the local press about it and I still hope that the developer has plans to rebuild it in another location. But who knows what will happen? It could easily just be lost forever and replaced by another drab housing development. If so, I’m glad I was able to see it before they tore it down.

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    • I am very saddened to learn that they have torn this fabulous home down. So much history is being destroyed all around us. I would love to know if there are any plans to relocate this mansion? As the daughters did in 1937 when they brought it here. What a shame I am devasted really. Why do they fill so compelled to destroy? It is greed always about money and what the property is worth and how many houses can they build rather than to preserve history. I enjoyed reading your story what a wonderful childhood you must have had. Thank you for sharing.

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  3. My grandma and grandpa stayed in an old brick house near a small church for probably since the late 1930’s, until early 1990’s when they were told to move out because of all the new homes being built,. My Dad, oldest brother, cousins worked cattle there, my oldest brother helped grandpa build fences out in Sienna when he was a young boy. My family has a lot of history that has never been told. Really upset me how my relatives lived there for so many years and had to move out because of all the new houses being built. So sad……..

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    • Mark… I’m wondering if we know each other. I remember a lil old man, I called grandpa, who worked with my papa on Sienna Plantation. I think his name was Rufus. Would that be your grandpa?

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  4. My Name is Jordan Nesossi my Grandfather was Colonel Jack B Price and my Grandmother was Mary Lee Price and my Uncle Jodi Price jr.They live in the Scanlan Mansion for over 30 years.I grew up there along with Bridgett,Rachelle,&her brother Jeremy. Mr. and Mrs.Lewis we’re like family.My brother and I spent more time there than our own home in old Sugar Land.I remember as a kid hunting birds and squirrels around the property,my Uncle would always jog the long driveway to the fence and then back to the house,Oiler games they were huge Oiler fans and we spent every Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve over there.My brother and I’d room was on the second floor and the window was facing towards the front gates,I use to wake up early and look out the window at the sunrise it was absolutely beautiful.I work for Fort Bend County Road and Bridge and I pass by Scanlan Road quite often and still brings a year to my eye.The old house may be gone but I will always have the memories.There was a huge pecan tree out there that we spread my Uncle’s ashes under it.Anyways I had the best time of my life and childhood at the old house♥️

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    • Hey Jordan! I would love to catch up some time. I don’t want to post personal info here, but you can probably find me on Facebook. Thanks for sharing the memories. When I think of Jody, I always think of his daily jogs too. I also remember catching frogs in that old water fountain. When your grandparents would go out of town, I got to walk Trouble and feed her. Too many memories to write out here. Those were some great times out there. I miss it.

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  6. I have an interest in the history of Houston through postcards and find your story of the Scanlan Mansion very interesting. I know about the Scanlan sisters and their father the mayor. Hiring Daniel Burnham for the Scanlan Building was an architectural coup of the first rank that took loads of money and lots of influence. To think that none of them ever married is a riddle I have not been able to unwind. I always wondered what happened to their mansion on Main Street, and did not know its fate until I read your blog. I have taken the liberty to link to you in my website: Houston Time Portal, a page featuring a postcard of Main at Calhoun which shows the site in about 1910. The view is too shady from trees to properly make out their house, but the distinctive wrought-iron fence is clear. It is pictured in Houston’s Forgotten Heritage (1991, page 136), but there is no element in common with Sienna Plantation house you have pictured, so it is clear they demolished the Main Street house and started over in Arcola. Thanks for your research and let me know if linking to your blog is acceptable.

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  8. I lived here for almost 2 years during 2006 and 2007! I was 10/11 years old. We got to live there for free but paid utilities. They just wanted someone to watch the property because apparently a lot of people trespassed. I remember one day someone knocked on the door and my aunt sent me away and later I overheard her and my granny saying it was a ghost hunter wanting to jar up spirits. I came across this site looking for pics to show my friend because unfortunately I don’t have any! There was the mansion (which my aunt, cousins and granny stayed in) the guest house (my mom, sister and I stayed here), the garage w the apartment over it, a nunnery, and the pool and pool house. Near the opposite entrance to the property there are grave sites. It was a really eerie place. I appreciate the history posted here on the site! There was a picture of this house in my school while I lived here, that was always wild to me.

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