Built in 1876 by Isaac Newton Smead and Sara Giberson Richards Smead, this residence traces the story of a post–Civil War craftsman family in Gonzales. Isaac was born October 24, 1815, in Seneca County, New York and worked as a cabinetmaker after moving to Texas. He married Sara on July 10, 1845, in Erie County, Ohio. Sara was born April 25, 1822, in Centre County, Pennsylvania. The couple settled in Gonzales shortly after the war and raised a house that first reflected the fashion of its time.
The original design was Mansard in character, often called Second Empire, with a steep dual-pitched roof and dormered upper story. In the twentieth century the dwelling took on a new identity. G. W. Wade, who lived here from 1909 to 1946, remodeled the exterior into a two-story Greek Revival composition with a symmetrical front and classical trim. During that work a scale model of the original Mansard house was discovered in the attic, a rare survival that ties the present appearance to its earlier form.
Later history
Isaac died November 7, 1889, in Gonzales. Sara moved to be near family and died September 7, 1909, in Bandera County. Both are buried in the Gonzales Masonic Cemetery.