Thomas R. Meux Home.

 Thomas R. Meux Home.

1007 R Street

It is open to the public as a museum.

The Meux Home was built in 1889 by Dr. Thomas Richard Meux (1838-1929). He was born in Tennessee. During the Civil War he enlisted in 1861 as a private in the Ninth Tennessee Volunteer Regiment of the Confederate Army. He saw action in the battle of Shiloh and Atlanta. After four years he left the service as an assistant surgeon with the rank of Captain. The Meux family moved in Fresno in 1887, and Dr. Meux chose the corner of Tulare and R streets as the family's home site in March of 1888. Meux established his medical practice in 1889 and served as a physician from his office and home the rest of his life. The home was continuously occupied by the Meux family for eighty years. The varied decorative treatments on the exterior walls is typical of the Queen Anne style. The house is on the National Registry of Historical Places. There has been reports of paranormal activities, but those who are with the house say those reports are either not true or over blown.

The Meux Home, located at R and Tulare Streets in downtown Fresno, is built in the typical asymmetrical plan common to Victorian residences of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It reflects, in a subdued manner, the eclectic stylistic gamut of that age. The exterior of the house uses towers, Corinthian cornices, corbels, scrolls, fans, string courses and stained or cut glass. The elaborate chimney details above the roof suggest a French Renaissance influence. The high wood-shingled roofs, ridge details, the tower surmounted with an elaborate finial, and finials at the intersection of roof hips of the main roofs give it a touch of Victorian Gothic. The exterior of the house consists of contrasting textures, with staggered shingles at the gable ends, patterned shingles at the second floor level and beveled shiplap siding at the first floor level, finished off at the bottom with a wood detailed water table. Each type of siding is separated from the other by a horizontal wood divider string board. Corner boards capped at top with elaborate corbels provide transition in the direction of wall shingles at wall ends.

The porch extends around the three principal elevations of the house and helps keep the interior relatively cool during the hot summer days. Porch details at railing and stairs are made from simple rectangular wood members intermixed with cut out details of arches and circles. Posts are stock mill-made units.

The interior of the Meux Home is typically Victorian. No part of a wall or ceiling is left undecorated. This was accomplished by papering all walls and ceilings. A picture mold is used in all rooms to separate the ceiling paper from the wall finish.

All millwork and details are stock mill-made units. The doors, however, are of special three-panel design. Stair railings, newell posts and balusters are stock Victorian mill units in a modified classical style. All wood trim is finished with stain and varnish. All fireplaces and mantel decorations are stock units. Tile work around fireplace openings and hearths is of stock art tile. All lighting fixtures are excellent examples of the gas light units prevelant during the latter part of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A stable with a storage room attached is located on the site. The stable included stalls for horses and space to store the phaetons, surreys and a one-horse buggy.

Historical significance

The Meux Home was built in 1889 by Dr. Thomas Richard Meux. Dr. Meux was born in 1838 in Wesley, Tennessee. He attended the University of Virginia and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1860. During the Civil War he enlisted in 1861 as a private in the Ninth Tennessee Volunteer Regiment of the Confederate Army. He participated in the battles of Shiloh, Murfreesboro and Atlanta. After four years he left the service as an assistant surgeon with the rank of Captain.

In 1874 Dr. Meux married Mary Esther Davis in Brownsville, Tennessee. Mrs. Meux was in poor health and on the advice of a brother who had moved to San Francisco, Dr. Meux decided to move the Central Valley. The family arrived in Fresno in 1887. Dr. Meux chose the corner of Tulare and R streets as the family's homesite in March of 1888.

Meux established his medical practice in 1889 and served as a physician from his office and home the rest of his life. He served as president of the Fresno County Medical Society and was a member of the Fresno County Democratic Club. He and his brother owned vineyards in the county and maintained an interest in agricultural affairs.

The Meux Home was continuously occupied by the Meux family for eighty years. Dr. Meux died at the age of ninety-one in 1929. His daughter, Anne Prenetta Meux, remained in the house until her death in 1970. The home was later acquired by the city of Fresno and is presently open to the public as the Meux Home Museum.

Adapted from the National Register of Historic Places nomination, originally prepared by James J. Nargis

Tours Available

Friday – Sunday from 12:00 to 3:00.

Admission:

Adults $10.00

Children (Ages 5-16) $5.00

Children 4 and under are free.

Weird Fresno speculates that the top floor is haunted. There has been reports of children laughing and things missing at night. On the other hand, those who volunteer there don’t think tit is haunted.

From NOEHill

Thomas Richard Meux was born in 1838 in Tennessee. He attended the University of Virginia and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1860 at the age of 22. In 1861 he enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army and participated in the battles of Shiloh, Murfreesboro, and Atlanta. After four years he left the service as an assistant surgeon with the rank of Captain.

Construction of the Meux Residence was started in 1889 and possibly finished in 1890. The Doctor's office and sun room on the west side of the residence was added sometime between 1910 and 1912.

It was a common practice of house contractors or carpenters of this period to carry with them small booklets of model homes along with catalogues of stock stair work, newel, balusters, all types of stock mill work, including doors. In addition, catalogues for ceramic art tile, fireplace details and mantels, and other special decorative details were available. From these books, the client would select all of the details desired for both the exterior and interior of the proposed house.

Many Fresno residents traveled to San Francisco and were no doubt influenced by the eclecticism of the Victorian residential architecture: Queen Anne, Victorian Gothic, French Renaissance, variegated baroque with even a touch of Turkish and Italianate. The Meux Residence reflects in a subdued manner the stylistic gamut of that age.

The asymmetrical plan of the Meux Residence differs from the rigid symmetry of the Colonial New England and Southern Residential Architecture and the resulting freedom of plan permitted the use of towers, elaborate cornices and corbels or brackets. The exterior elevations make full use of Corinthian cornices, scrolls, fans, string courses, and stained or cut glass.

In Victorian houses, porches were typically limited to the front elevation, but in Fresno, because of the summer heat, porches were usually extended to cover the full perimeter of the first floor. In the Meux House, the porch extends around the three principal elevations to help keep the interior relatively cool during the hot summer days.