Built by Abner Cook in a Greek Revival style and completed in 1856, the building occupies the center of a block and is surrounded by trees and gardens.

[6] The mansion was partially destroyed by a four-alarm fire during the early morning of June 8, 2008, caused by a Molotov cocktail.

They had relocated in October 2007 for a $10 million major deferred maintenance project that began in January 2008.

State Fire Marshal Paul Maldonado said the next Sunday that investigators had evidence that an arsonist targeted the 152-year-old building.

[3] On February 17, 2011, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw announced that two persons of interest had been identified as the arsonists.