Pompeiian Villa: The Pink

Arthur Stillwell had a vision to make Port Arthur a winter retreat for some of America’s wealthiest families.

He brought the Kansas City Southern Railroad to Port Arthur, had made investments and was planning to attract wealthy families to a stretch of real estate along Lakeshore Boulevard.

One of two elegant structures built on Lakeshore was the Pompeiian Villa. It was built by Isaac Ellwood “The Barbed Wire

King,” who had made a fortune with his invention of barbed wire.

Ellwood had the home constructed as a replica of a 79 A.D. Pompeiian home. The exterior was painted in a bright pink color.

Ellwood lived in the home for a year, then sold it to James Hopkins, president of the Diamond Match Company.

Hopkins loved the house and planned it to be a surprise present for his