Willis demurred as he preferred to keep his assets liquid to be distributed among his ten children on his death.

[2][4] Her children never visited the opulent mansion designed to bring them back to Galveston.

Following the style of Richard Norman Shaw, Tyndall used elements from different cultures and periods, leading to an eclectic appearance.

The interiors were designed by Pottier & Stymus, a famous New York firm of the time that also worked for such clients as Thomas Edison, William Rockefeller, and President Ulysses S.

Moody, his wife and four children promptly moved into the home and celebrated their first Christmas at the mansion in 1900.

Tyndall incorporated many technological advances of the period including a one-passenger elevator, a dumbwaiter, speaking tubes in the pantry for communicating with the kitchen staff in the basement, heated drying racks in the laundry room, and lighting fixtures using both gas and electricity.