Victoria, Victoria County
J. Meredith Tatton (1901-1970), conservationist, composer, cattleman, and writer, was born in Leek, Staffordshire, England. In 1930, Tatton came to Texas and married Victoria native Virginia Drake Hallinan (1901-1993), a great-granddaughter of legendary cattleman Thomas O’Connor. The couple lived in England from 1932-36 before returning to make Victoria their home; they had one son. The Tattons had extensive area ranching interests. “Jack” Tatton was also a director of Victoria Bank & Trust Co., a director of the National Quarter Horse Breeders Association, a trustee of Our Lady of the Lake College (San Antonio), a Senator of the University of St. Thomas (Houston), and president of the South Texas Historical Association. Noted architect John F. Staub designed this home for the Tattons in 1936, and it was completed the following year. Staub, a Tennessee native, worked for country house architect Harrie Thomas Lindeberg in New York before relocating in 1921 to Houston, where he soon opened his own practice. Staub was a co-founder of the South Texas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1924. Staub and his associates designed varied projects, including several university campus buildings, but became best known for single-family houses. In 1933, Joseph Vandenberge hired Staub to remodel the Frederick C. Proctor house; the Tatton house on the same block became his second commission in Victoria. The colonial revival and monterey-style inspired house features brick and frame cladding, second-story bedrooms, study, balcony, and rear porches. William and Lucile Welder Murphy, representing two more notable south Texas cattle ranching families, bought the house in 1949, and it remained in their family until 2005.