Samuel Bell Maxey and his family moved into their fashionable new home on the south side of Paris, Texas in 1868. Built in the High Victorian Italianate style, the two-story frame structure was a proper home for the ex-Confederate general who would later serve as a U.S. Senator. Sam and Marilda hired an architect from Louisville, Kentucky, sought the work of artisans in New Orleans, and shopped in St.Louis for furnishings. Like other prosperous Texans, the Maxeys looked to these cities, stylish markets with abundant manufacturing concerns, to construct and decorate a fashionable dwelling. For 19th- century Americans, nothing spoke to success like the grandeur of the family home. At the time that the house was built, architectural styles were in flux. Older houses were built in the "Greek Revival" manner; by the 1860s, the "Italianate style" was in fashion. The Maxey house blends both. The symmetry of the Greek Revival combined with the brackets and other rich details of the Italianate. Perhaps most remarkable is that is was built at all. since the Civil War devastated the Southern economy. Once inside you will see the large rooms, 20 feet square with 11 foot ceilings. These rather grand spaces hold the furniture and decorotive arts collected by the Maxey family during the course of more than a century. Maxey family members lived in the home until 1966.Numerous alterations were made to the cherished house in 1911 to accommodate a changing 20th century lifestyle.The Sam Bell Maxey House stands today preserved as it was used by the last family members in the 1960's. The house reflects not only the building styles of the late 19th century, but also includes alterations made to a loved home to accommodate a changing 20th century lifestyle. Furnishings accumulated over a period of 100 years reflect fashions popular among the well-to-do in Victorian America. The grounds have been landscaped to enhance the historic structure and to show the kinds of plants enjoyed by the Maxeys and their contemporaries.