The sisters took care of themselves and they each had their duties running the house, with each of them performing the chore
best suited to their own particular talent; whether it be cooking,
gardening or overseeing the cattle ranch.
Miss Etta was 95 at the time of her death in 1957. Her sisters
continued to live in the house until the last one, Carlyle, died in
1975 at the age of 94. The house was willed to Etta’s niece, Genevieve Moore who shuttered and abandoned the home with the
furnishings intact. Genevieve had spent little time in the house as
an adult and when she died in 1998, her will specified the house
be destroyed and the contents donated to museums. Legal battles
were fought among the distant relatives to save the house and
they were successful in having this part of the will set aside. In
2000 the heirs made the mansion, and its contents, a gift to the
non-profit Beeville Art Association - without ever looking inside
the home!
Upon receiving the mansion, the house was opened and the treasures revealed. Filled with 16th and 17th century antiques, it must
have been like revealing the tomb of King Tutankhamen! It had
to have been incredible to discover these works of art had been
inside the house for over 65 years. A Tiffany clock built originally for Louis Tiffany, a wall size mirror which had graced the
palace of Prince Roland Bonaparte in France, an urn made for
Queen Vic