Pompeiian Villa

1953 Lakeshore Dr, Port Arthur, TX 77640

This building’s history is almost as fascinating as the villa itself. In 1900 this modest 10-room “cottage” was built for Isaac Ellwood, “the barbed wire King,” as an authentic copy of a Pompeiian home of 74 AD. Rooms are built around a traditional Roman peristyle, a three-sided courtyard to which each room has access.

Fun Fact:

Part of the home’s colorful past is at one point the home was traded to George Craig, banker and land developer, for 10 percent of stock in the newly formed Texas Company, a forerunner of Texaco. The stock at the time was worth a few thousand dollars, however, today the same stock is worth more than two hundred million dollars.