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McKay House, Jefferson, Texas
In 1877, when Jefferson was a worldly river
port, it was rocked by the brief visit of "Diamond Bessie"---the
stage name of Annie Stone Moore Rothchild, a popular entertainer. While
in town with her husband, a wealthy Cincinnati gambler named Abe Rothchild,
the pair walked alone into a field. A gunshot was heard, and Abe returned
alone, claiming his wife had shot herself by accident. After three trials
over seven years, Rothchild was a free man, but the people of Jefferson
never accepted the "not guilty" verdict.
One of the attorneys who successfully defended
Rothchild was Hector McKay, the first of two generations of McKays that
lived in this 1851 Greek Revival. In the early 1980s, the McKay House
was purchased by Dallasites Tom and Peggy Taylor, who, through extensive
renovations, transformed it into the city's most luxurious B&B.
The inn is furnished almost entirely with
antiques, mostly Eastlake, many of them quite valuable. But this place
is anything but stuffy. Innkeepers Joseph and Alma Anne Parker know how
to help folks break the ice, from the funny period hats distributed for
visitors to wear at breakfast, to Victorian gowns and nightshirts provided
in the rooms, and, in one room, his-and-hers clawfoot tubs that offer
an opportunity for simultaneous scrub-downs.
An ancient Packard pump organ is played to
call guests to the hearty "Gentleman's Breakfast," which is
served in period dress and may consist of honey-cured ham, cheese biscuits,
and homemade pineapple zucchini bread and strawberry preserves.
Afterward, guests can relax on the wide front
porch, outfitted with a swing and white wicker chairs.
The guest rooms are individual in personality
but uniform in elegance; each offers such furnishings as a canopy bed
and antique armoire. The two downstairs rooms have coal-burning fireplaces;
the two upstairs suites feature a balcony, skylight, and his-and-hers
tubs; and a downstairs suite includes two bedrooms, each with its own
fireplace.
But perhaps the most memorable rooms are the
two set off from a central, dog-trot hall in the tin-roofed Victorian
garden cottage located behind the main house. The Keeping Room, in particular,
is amusingly authentic: a claw-foot tub sits exposed in a bay window,
next to a transplanted outdoor privy, fully equipped with a lantern and
a Sears Roebuck catalogue.
Location: 306 Delta
St., Jefferson
Related Page:
Jefferson Index
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