Pompeiian Villa

To visit the Pompeiian Villa GO TO THE MUSEUM OF THE GULF COAST AT 700 PROCTER STREET. From there a guide will accompany you to the Villa. We suggest yo call ahead to insure a guide is available. The Pompeiian Villa, was built in 1900 for Isaac L. Ellwood (1833-1910), principal developer of barbed wire. Architects G. C. Nimmons and W. K. Fellows, of Chicago, designed this beautiful structure in a classic revival style with a raised Roman Doric portico. The Villa changed hands for the first time in 1901 when James Hopkins of St. Louis purchased it. He leased it as a hunting and fishing getaway for his wealthy friends until 1903. George Craig purchased the villa for $10,000 in Texas Company stock, which at the time amounted to 10 percent of the company. We know this company today as Texaco, and that stock would be worth more than a billion dollars.