The images that follow are from my visit on that day.  for more information visit the Chandor Gardens page elsewhere on this web site. For a slide show of the images below simply click one of them.

Gallery

• Bowling Green

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  Bowling Green: This part of the garden is very European.

• Triple Tiered Fountain

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  Triple Tiered Fountain: Across from the south porch of the house.

• Boxwood Garden

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  Boxwood Garden at Chandor Gardens

• Stone of The Immortals

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  Note the marble Kuan Yin, Chinese Goddess of Peace.

• Moon Gate

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  Moon Gate: A traditional Chinese architectural structure.

• Dragon Fountain

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  Fountain was designed and built by Douglas Chandor.

County History

Prior to 1850 the area of Texas that eventually became Parker County was frontier territory. The establishment of Fort Worth in 1849, and the building of Fort Belknap in 1851 combined with other factors promoted the settlement of this area after 1850.

Late in 1855 Isaac Parker petitioned the Texas State Legislature to establish Parker County and Weatherford. On December 12, 1855, the legislature officially created Parker County from parts of Navarro and Bosque Counties. The new county was 30 miles square, with 320 acres reserved at the center for the county seat. Weatherford, the county seat, was named in honor of Jefferson Weatherford a Senator from Dallas.

The Town of Weatherford

In 1858 the city government of Weatherford was established. The town square was laid out at the intersection of the two primary roads approaching town. Instead of the typical layout with streets passing by all four sides of the town square, Weatherford’s square is right in the middle of the roads as you approach from all four directions. When the courthouse was eventually built, is was visible from some distance as you approached town. This layout makes for a much more dramatic presentation compared to the typical town square where you usually don’t see the courthouse until you pull up to one if the intersections on a corner of the courthouse square.

First Monday

In the late 19th century stray cattle and horses were brought to the town square to sell. Around 1900 a Weatherford merchant offered some bargain merchandise for sale on what was then called a “Stray Day Sale,” and the idea caught on. The tradition of “First Monday” lives on to this day. The location of the sale has moved from the courthouse square to the public market a few blocks east of the courthouse. It’s more like a flea market these days, but locals still show up on the first Monday of the month to sell local goods to folks who come from near and sometimes from very far away.

The Courthouse

The Parker County Courthouse was designed by architect W. C. Dodson. The style of the Weatherford courthouse is similar to Dodson’s other courthouses in Hill, Hood, and Lampasas counties. The building is a three story structure with a forth story attic. A central clock tower extends up another three stories. The building is square in plan with four almost identical facades. Each facade is divided into five bays with projecting pavilions on the end and center bays. Each of the four corners of the building is crowned with a convex mansard roof. The central clock tower repeats the pattern of the convex mansard roofs to produce a uniformity of style.

The second and third story windows are vertically united to form single windows spanning two stories. The long vertical windows, central clock tower, and mansard roofs make what is already a courthouse built to a grand scale look even more palatial.

The elevation of this courthouse and the dramatic central position it holds on the town square further contributes to it’s overall grandeur. Certainly, it can be seen from a great distance away, as you approach town form any direction.

The interior of the Parker County Courthouse was heavily modified over the years. A restoration completed in 2004 restored much of the interior to its original configuration.

While the courthouses in Hood and Hill counties were also designed by architect W. C. Dodson, and are often compared to this courthouse, there are some distinct differences between the interiors of those two buildings and the Parker County Courthouse.

The courtroom of the Parker County Courthouse is among the biggest in the state at 4500 square feet. The ceiling is 28 feet high and heavily patterned and decorated. The pattern on the ceiling is carried through to the patterned flooring. The walls also are decoratively painted. Small wood balconies provide limited additional seating. Dark woodwork and shutters accentuate the very tall windows on the north and south walls of the courtroom. Beautiful reproductions of the original brass ceiling lamps hang from brass chains and help light this enormous space.

The district courtroom in the Parker County Courthouse is every bit as grand as it is different from any other courtroom in a nearby historic county courthouse.

Believe it or not, they saved the old squeaky wooden staircases. Of course they are original to the building and therefore important to the historical completeness of the building’s restoration. It’s a good thing too because they could never meet modern building codes. The railings can’t be more than 28 inches high! I guess in the old days they figured railings were for children, and adults should be able to take care of themselves.

For many years I drove by this building and wondered what was inside. At the right time of day I could see light shining through the tall windows from the other side of the courthouse. I couldn’t imagine what could be inside if I could see right through the building. It surprised me to see how that was possible. If you have never been inside this building, stop and take a look. Overall this courthouse is in magnificent condition after its 2004 restoration. If you’ve been inside the Hill and Hood county courthouses, then your in for an even bigger surprise. This building won’t be at all what you expect. And, that’s a good thing.

Location

117 Fort Worth Hwy
Weatherford, Texas

Information:  http://www.co.parker.tx.us/

Bibliographic note:
Most of the information presented here was extracted from the Texas Historical Commission’s Sites Atlas. (http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/) Other information resulted from a conversation with the restoration project superintendent in January of 2004. Still other details came from a special section to the April 18, 2004 edition of The Weatherford Democrat newspaper.

County: Parker
map

Copyright © 2009 by Sam Fenstermacher
All rights reserved

The town square was laid out at the intersection of the two primary roads approaching town. Instead of the typical layout with streets passing by all four sides of the town square, Weatherford’s square is right in the middle of the roads as you approach from all four directions. When the courthouse was eventually built, is was visible from a great distance as you approached town. This layout makes for a dramatic presentation compared to the typical town square where you usually don’t see the courthouse until you pull up to one if the intersections on a corner of the courthouse square.

The town square gave way to the traffic on the roads passing around the courthouse years ago. Today there’s a lot of traffic, but also good parking outside the traffic loop. to investigate the courthouse and other stores around the old town square, park and walk.

Historic Courthouse

The Parker County Courthouse was designed by architect W. C. Dodson. The style of the Weatherford courthouse is similar to Dodson’s other courthouses in Hill, Hood, and Lampasas counties. This building is a three story structure with forth story attic. A central clock tower extends up another three stories. Each of the four corners of the building is crowned with a convex mansard roof. The central clock tower repeats the pattern of the convex mansard roofs to produce a uniformity of style.

The elevation of this courthouse and the dramatic central position it holds on the town square further contributes to it’s overall grandeur. Certainly, it can be seen from a great distance away, as you approach town form any direction.

The courtroom of the Parker County Courthouse is among the biggest in the state at 4500 square feet. The ceiling is 28 feet high and heavily patterned and decorated. The pattern on the ceiling is carried through to the patterned flooring. The walls also are decoratively painted. Small wood balconies provide limited additional seating. Dark woodwork and shutters accentuate the very tall windows on the north and south walls of the courtroom. Beautiful reproduction of the original brass ceiling lamps hang from brass chains and help light this enormous space.

The courthouse was restoration to its original configuration in 2004. If you have the time and the building is open, walk through the Parker County Courthouse, because it is one of the great historic county courthouses in the state.

Besides the courthouse, other old architecture abounds. The Weatherford National Bank Building is across the street. When restoring the courthouse, they discovered a tunnel running to the bank. Robbers never got the chance to hold up the County Clerk making the evening deposit.

In the late 19th century stray cattle and horses were brought to the town square to sell. Around 1900 a Weatherford merchant offered some bargain merchandise for sale on what was then called a “Stray Day Sale,” and the idea caught on. The tradition of “First Monday” lives on to this day. The location of the sale has moved from the courthouse square to the public market a few blocks east of the courthouse. It’s more like a flea market these days, but they still show up on the first Monday of the month.

Chandor Gardens is only a few blocks away from the Square and a good side trip.

Browse the gallery below for pictures and more destination information.

County: Parker
map

Gallery

Copyright © 2008 by Sam Fenstermacher
All rights reserved

Gallery

They open in April, check their Web site for details. Chandor Gardens is the work of the well known twentieth century artist Douglas Chandor. He was an Englishman who came to America in 1926 and established himself as a portrait painter. Some of his better known subjects were Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt.

Chandor married Ina Kuetman and they settled in her hometown of Weatherford Texas. The couple began building their home and Gardens in 1936. Over a period of 16 years Douglas Chandor converted a cactus covered hillside into a truly outstanding one-man garden that remains today as a testament to his gardening and artistic skills.

Chandor himself died in 1953, but his wife kept the gardens open to the public until 1978. Over a period of time the estate fell into disrepair and then was restored and sold to the city of Weatherford in 2002. Today the gardens are open to the public for viewing during scheduled hours for a small fee. They also host parties, wedding, and special events. See the Web site for details.

The gardens are broken up into 18 distinct areas or “rooms” featuring English and Chinese motifs. Water and fountains are featured in many of the garden settings. The mansion and courtyard are also quite impressive.

As I walked through these historic gardens, it occurred to me that Chandor Gardens must reflect the art and tastes of Douglas Chandor. While enjoying the Dragon Fountain and Buddha Niche, two adjacent rooms in the garden, my thoughts drifted to folk art. Folk art typically features strong local influences and varied use of materials. The opulent green glass that fringes the base of the Dragon Fountain is, in fact, some sort of commodity green glass bottle. I’m guessing maybe a 1940′s beverage of some sort. This in no way detracts from the overall beauty of the fountain. In fact it occurred to me that this may be the greater art of the artist. Although Chandor was an accomplished portrait painter by training; his greatest and most expressive works may well be on display not at the Smithsonian but here in Chandor Gardens.

Updates

2010 update from Steve:

Opening weekend for 2010 will be April 3 and 4. The new bronze dragons are now in place on the Dragon Fountain. Last year, we removed the originals and had them restored. Then we cast them in bronze, installed the bronzes in the Dragon fountain, and placed the restored originals in the house (they are not weatherproof).

This update on the 2009 season came from Steve Chamblee, horticulturist at Chandor Gardens.

New and Important Changes

• Opening weekend, April 4&5 this year, is always fun and busy. Admission is just $1, just like Ina used to charge, and we’ll have music, some food, The Texas Bee Charmer, Ask a Master Gardener, and I’m doing a talk on Texas Tough Plants.
• The Labyrinth is located in the center of the garden, on top of an old parking lot. I like that people who are enlightened to labyrinths absolutely love it and get all excited and involved with it; and those who don’t know what it is just kind of go, “Hrmpt…whatever.”
• I am literally in the middle of installing the new bronze sculptures in the Dragon Fountain. (The old ones were very weather-worn, and we’ve had them restored, but they are not weather-proof.) They will have jets of water spraying out of the dragons’ mouths, just like Chandor had them operating back in the day.
• We have replanted lots of pocket areas around the garden, so there is always something new and fresh to see.
• We have lots more koi than last year.
• On sort of a historic note, we are starting new roses for the main pergola in the Silver Garden.
• And we’ve done lots of irrigation work, which no one cares about but us gardeny folks.

The Hours

Officially, we are open to the public from the first weekend of April through mid-November, Saturdays 9am to 3pm, and Sundays 1pm to 5pm. The “strangeness” of these hours allows us to have lots of wedding here, which pays the light bill. Other than that, we are officially open other times by appointment. Our nickels and dimes budget does not allow us to reliably keep staff here other than those hours.

So, all of that being said, I tell people if they want to visit other than the official hours, just call ahead. 99% of the time, we can easily accommodate people. The main number is 817-613-1700, and my number is 817-598-4029.

Peace & Love,

Steven Chamblee

Location

711 West Lee Ave. Weatherford Texas, 7606

The Official Chandor Gardens Web Site

http://www.chandorgardens.com/

County: Parker

Bibliographic note: Most of the information presented here was extracted from a fact sheet provided at Chandor Gardens during my visit.

Copyright © 2008 by Sam Fenstermacher
All rights reserved