Mansion on the Canal

wife. Mrs. Hopkins took the train from St. Louis to Port Arthur, expecting to see a winter paradise like she had been visiting in Florida.

When she took a carriage ride from the train to her new winter paradise, she saw a magnificent home. However, to her chagrin, she saw that it was built in a muddy marshland next to a lake filled with brown water. There were also hordes of mosqui- toes. Being used to white sand beaches and clear water in Florida, Mrs. Hopkins refused to leave the carriage and never set foot in the home.

Hopkins never lived in the home but continued to own it for two more years. During that time, he rented it to James Guffey, who started Gulf Oil and built the first refinery in Port Arthur.

In 1903, Hopkins traded the Villa to George Craig for $10,000 worth of stock in the new Texas Company. The stock amounted to about 10 percent of the stock in the company.

When asked in later years about the trade of the stock, Craig replied oil companies were going in business and out of business very fast and he had no idea the Texas Company would grow so large and the stock would become so valuable.

The Craig family lived in the home until 1946 when it was sold to Capt. Arne Pederson, who lived there for 19 years.

By 1965 the home had been on the market for 12 years and had been vacant for five. It was in such a state of deterioration that there was the possibility of it being torn down. However, the Port Arthur Historical Society bought the Villa for $25,000 and spent thousands more over several years on renovations.

The Villa was opened to the public in the early 1970s.

The Villa is constructed in a “U” shape. Across the south side are the living, dining and sitting rooms. The east wing contains the bedrooms. Unique to the rooms is that they are side-by-side with a hallway running the length of the wing. Originally there were no doors on the bedrooms. There is a small bathroom.

The west wing contains the kitchen. This area is the only part of the house that is not of the period. The kitchen was renovated by the Craig family in the 1950s and was stateof-the-art at that time. There is a dishwasher and a five-burner drop in stovetop, along with other modern, for the time, appliances.

The rest of the house contains many pieces of art and furniture that were donated to the museum over the years.

Outside the back of the house, is the peristyle, a Pompeiian “patio.” In the center is a large fountain with an elegant statue of a young Pompeiian boy.

Approximately 200 feet behind the house is a small building that was once the “washhouse,” where laundry was done. In the days of having to heat water over open fires, the heating of water for the laundry was kept well away from the house.

The Villa is open for tours by the public. Tours may be arranged by contacting the Museum of the Gulf Coast at 409-982-7000.

— Written by Mike Louviere

“Love it! — I was like ‘OMG’!! - I’m married to a ‘famous Cajun!!’” — Dodie LaBove

Jim and Dodie LaBove are seen above.

They are pictured while looking over Volume 6, 2022, of Greater Port Arthur The Magazine, which features a story on Jim LaBove titled “True Cajun.”