Commissioned by Emilie James “Jimmie” Lea Boothe after the death of her husband Joseph Henry Boothe in 1911, this residence is a high craft early twentieth century house designed by noted Texas architect Atlee B. Ayres and completed in 1913. Joseph Henry Boothe, born November 20, 1851 in North Carolina, read law there before settling in the area as a teacher, merchant, and civic leader. About 1895 he partnered with Edward Lewis in the hardware and plumbing trade and erected the Boothe & Lewis Building on the east side of the town square. He bought this house lot in 1896 and served a multi-year term as mayor prior to his death from heart failure on August 28, 1911. Afterward, Emilie and their son Ross Boothe engaged Ayres to design a modern residence on the St. George Street site.
House history
Contemporary and later references agree on the architect and year of completion. Ayres, whose Texas portfolio includes county courthouses and significant residences, is credited with several works in the region during this period. Public write-ups consistently identify the property at 706 St. George Street as the J. H. Boothe House, designed by Ayres and finished in 1913.
Architecture and interiors
Period descriptions and recent restoration features emphasize a formal symmetrical front with classical detailing, generous porches, and refined interior finishes typical of Ayres’s early domestic commissions. Accounts highlight multiple entertaining rooms, an elongated parlor connected to service spaces, and high ceilings with quality millwork. Surviving narratives also note substantial stair and hall treatments, paired doors, and period light fixtures that align with Ayres’s work on other houses of the 1910s. A widely referenced image record and architect biographies list the J. H. Boothe House (1913) among Ayres’s residential commissions, alongside the C. H. Hoskins House (1911) in the same town.
Owners and family
Joseph Henry Boothe married Emilie James Lea on September 18, 1879; they had five sons and lived in several places before settling permanently in the 1890s. Emilie completed and occupied the new house in 1913 and died January 1, 1930. Both she and Joseph are buried in the Gonzales Masonic Cemetery.