The League-Kempner Mansion represents the last great house of the Broadway Castle District designed by Nicholas Clayton.

One of the most intriguing houses in Texas is, until recently, one of the most endangered.  The last of Galveston’s privately owned Gilded Age homes, the League-Kempner Mansion is in danger of loss without its determined new savior. 

At 1710 Broadway, the home was built by Galveston aristocracy John Charles League and Nellie Ball in 1893.  It represents the last great house of the Broadway Castle District designed by Nicholas Clayton, architect of the Bishop’s Palace. 

A pair of limestone Ionic pilasters frames the front door.

Following League’s death in 1916, matriarch of the Kempner family Eliza Seinsheimer Kempner acquired the home.  Eliza employed Houston architect to the oil barons Birdsall Briscoe to make additions in 1920.  Upon Eliza’s death in 1947 the house passed to her son Isaac Kempner, last surviving founder of The Imperial Sugar Company.  He was also mayor of Galveston. 

In 1972 the house was acquired by John S. Samuels III, under whose stewardship it fell into a state of decay.  The dark home with the overgrown acre lot at the corner of Broadway and 17th Street crawled with vines and opossums, and had visibly broken, boarded up, or blatantly open windows for years.  The mansion earned a reputation of the most haunted house on the island. 

It was an open window on the third floor that first piqued Janie Mitcham’s attention.

It went up for sale in 2021 with not only a hefty price tag but also a daunting task to prevent the structure from complete collapse.  But the purchaser was not the Galveston Historical Society or a law office.  Nor was it a maven of society or a parvenu. It was an unassuming retiree from Houston, Janie Mitcham, who is also the owner of the historic Lucas Apartments on Broadway.  And ironically, it was an open window on the third floor that first piqued Janie’s attention. 

“On my thousands of drives from Houston to Galveston to work on the Lucas, I passed a remarkably sad house with a lone window open on the top floor.  That window drove me crazy,” Janie says.  “I couldn’t believe that this incredible house was being left to decay.  I jokingly told all my friends that my husband better pray that it never came up for sale because I would feel compelled to sell everything we own to buy it and try to save it.” 

One must stand in the boulevard to get the facade of the League-Kempner Mansion within camera frame.

It did.  And she did. 

On a sunny day in late October, I met Janie to tour this architectural treasure and to witness the efforts underway to save it. 

A poorly designed house of this size will appear rambling and disjointed.  I will not finger point, this is a friendly post after all, but there is an example of architectural tommyrot masquerading as divine right down the street.  But Clayton’s sense of scale and proportion was so artfully adept that the house does not appear to be the behemoth it is.  Note, one must stand in the boulevard to get the facade within a single camera frame. 

Enshrining the front porch is a row of clustered Doric columns, the first order of Greek columns. It is a centuries old architectural language connoting strength, order, balance, and durability. 

The reputation as Galveston’s most haunted house came about by appearances alone.

Up the slate stairs, a pair of limestone Ionic pilasters frames the front door.  The second order of Greek architecture, Ionic columns represent wisdom, knowledge, and enlightenment.  The edges of the curling capitals symbolize an ancient scroll.  Inside the entry vestibule the architect repeated Ionic columns. 

Once inside, paint peels from surfaces and the monumental stained glass windows are absent for restoration.  Wood to be repurposed and panelling to be reassembled sits in islands where furniture was once graciously displayed.  Though despite the time-worn condition and obvious structural challenges, the house exudes a sense of integrity and durability.

In the drawing room, to the west of the entry, repeating pilasters encircle the room.  And a pair of Corinthian columns adjoins the proper space to a semicircular sunroom.  Corinthian columns, the third Greek order, ornate and opulent in this inner sanctum, simply say, “Look how rich we are.” 

I recognize what I believe are details referenced from Louisiana’s grandest plantation house Belle Grove.  Falling to the ground in the 1950s, Belle Grove’s drawing room was lined by Corinthian pilasters with a pair of columns linking a demilune sunroom.  Perhaps Nicholas Clayton was familiar with Henry Howard’s monumental design for the 70 room Greek Revival masterwork built 40 years prior.

I recognize what I believe are details referenced from Louisiana’s grandest plantation house Belle Grove. (Images of Belle Grove’s Drawing Room and Floorplan via public domain.)

With any house of the age, whether pristine or decayed, people naturally imagine the possibility of ghosts.  So of course I asked Janie if she has encountered any weird or spooky occurrences.  “No,” she plainly answered, and explained that, unlike the Lucas Apartments which are rumored to be built with “blood-soaked bricks” salvaged from the Great Storm of 1900, the League-Kempner Mansion has a jovial past.  The reputation as Galveston’s most haunted house came about by appearances alone.

A pair of Corinthian columns adjoins the drawing room to a semicircular sunroom.

But what scares her more than ghosts are bugs.  Janie is a tough gal and won’t jump out of her hide if she spies an insect.  No, instead she actively searches for them.  Namely, Formosan Termites. 

The Formosan Termite is called the super-termite because of its voracious appetite and the size of its colonies.  Populations of this invasive and destructive insect are large enough that swarms appear on weather radars in New Orleans.  With a six-figure extermination estimate, Janie has become an abatement expert.  And in every room she pokes and prods the wood for signs of reactivated infestation. 

Truthfully, unless you live in a 1980s Steven Spielberg movie, ghosts won’t bring a house down, but Formosan Termites will. 

Unless you live in a 1980s Steven Spielberg movie, ghosts won’t bring a house down, but Formosan Termites will.

I’m such an architectural nerd.  And there is more to be said here that I could continue writing for pages, especially about the undertaking to save the house, the analysis of design details, and the evolution of a home from the 19th to the 21st Century.  After all, I’ve only written about one room so far.  The mansion has its original kitchen as well as a servant’s stair for the whole Downton Abbey vibe. 

But it is important introduce Janie’s YouTube Channel in which she documents her efforts and projects.  These videos appeal to anyone interested in restoration, DIY, architecture, engineering, history, Texana, or the Gilded Age. 

Link to YouTube: League-Kempner House 

The restoration of a house documented in such a detailed and informative level is eye-opening. I thought a mansion built of cement and stone could stand indefinitely, but I was wrong.  No, I would not expect it to weather very well but I never imagined that such a house could collapse.  This American castle withstood the Great Storm of 1900 but nearly succumbed to time and termites. 

…as a servant’s stair for the whole Downton Abbey vibe.

Since Janie purchased the mansion, the scope of the project has grown beyond the comprehension of this lone Samaritan, especially financially.  So it is the last of Galveston’s privately owned Gilded Age mega-mansions no longer–Janie has established a 501(c)-3 foundation to assist in saving the estate.  Here is a link: 

Link to The League Kempner House Website

DONATE.  VOLUNTEER.  WATCH.  In securing the mansion’s future it can be used for tours, educational and cultural events, weddings, picnics, and more.  Each reader can share in a part of saving this landmark.  For those not financially able to contribute, there will be opportunities to volunteer as well.  At a minimum, subscribe to the YouTube Channel. 

With so much yet to be said, I will put my conclusion on hold…  Watch for Part Two because there is more to this story.