Victorian charm and a classical education go hand in hand at one elementary school in Waxahachie, Texas. The town is the ‘gingerbread capital” and boasts hundreds of Victorian era homes with the classical gingerbread trim. Victorian refers to the reign of England’s Queen Victoria and more specifically to the second half of the nineteenth century. In the United States, historians tend to use the term to include the period after the Civil War until World War I in 1914. Gingerbread trim is superfluously ornate and includes fish scale shingles, carved brackets, railings, wooden scrolls, doors, and peak decorations. Several of these houses are restored for homes, a few for businesses, and one for a Montessori school, Pettigrew Academy, for grades one through eight. It is located at 806 East Marvin.

The structure now housing the school was built in the 1890’s. During the 1930’s it was moved to its present large lot which includes an orchard in the back. Throughout the school you will find bull’s eye molding and tall beaded baseboards. The woodwork had to be removed, stripped by hand, and then replaced and painted. The carved front door took many hours of tedious hand sanding in the dentils and grooves. The finished product was well worth it. The warm wood is the perfect framing for the multicolored small squares of stained glass that was common to the period. This same glass design is repeated in the tall front two windows which now provide a magical reading place in the school’s library. The warmth of the refinished original red pine floor makes this the favorite room of the school children. Library time easily being the favorite part of the day. Gardening in the large open space behind the school or picking pears from the orchard comes in a close second.

The ceilings of the home are an unusual eleven feet, not the more common 9ft. 11inches. The high ceilings make all the rooms seems larger. The original bead board makes a perfect component for the “cubbies” area in the hallway and “science lab”, formally known as the kitchen. The removal of an added closet and the opening of the chimney (long gone) provided a large classroom area and a little reading nook coveted by the youngest members of the school.

The home was built with iron, square nails and has a “few” added modern ones to keep it all together. The restoration process was extensive. It began with several leveling of the pier and beam foundation. The entire inside had to have wall and ceiling repairs and painting. It is slated to be repainted on the outside this summer. For a school, the house had to be rewired for commercial use to city codes and the addition of a wheelchair ramp. The ramp and added back porch was in keeping with the era with turned posts and dentil trim around the porch roof. The wooden railings of the ramp blend in with the porch and make a backdrop for the added butterfly garden. In the spring, the rails are hidden by the abundance of the plants growth.

The overall feeling is one of being in Grandma’s house and provides instant comfort for the new students entering school, sometimes for the first time. The quality of the building materials and the beauty of the space is appreciated by the parents and the staff. This charming house preserves the history of past generations and shelters the education for future generations.