722 West Oak Street- Christal House

James Russell Christal rose to the rank of cowboy on his great-uncle Burk Burnett’s 6666 Ranch near Wichita Falls. Injuries forced his return to Denton, where he started the Golden Hoof Ranch, a showplace for award-winning sheep and cattle. He served as the president of the Alliance Milling Company from 1900 to 1909, vice-president of the Exchange National Bank from 1909 to 1912, and president from 1912 to 1926. He helped establish the North Texas Normal College, now known as the University of North Texas. Annetta Ramsay and Randy Hunt purchased the Christal House from their daughter in 2004 and secured the RTHL marker in 2015.

Frank Craft, builder of other houses on West Oak Street, built this house in 1906 for the Christals. The house is high Victorian Italian Villa style, with a wide veranda on three sides supported by Corinthian columns. The Palladian entrance has leaded beveled glass side windows. The Craftsman style interior features tiger eye oak, bird’s eye maple and long leaf pine floors. A carriage house behind the main house stored the house and buggy used to return to the Golden Hoof Ranch each weekend. This Queen Anne style house has steeply pitched roof lines with irregular shape with a dominate front facing gable highlighted with an oval window. A front bay window arched second story porch and wide eaves are devices used to evade a smooth walled façade with an asymmetrical design. The full width porch wraps three sides of the twostory house. Decorative detailing with Italianate influence includes columns as porch supports, spindle rails, lead-caned windows, elaborate entry motif and a single large pane of glass set in the door surrounded by leaded sidelights. Another example Queen Anne house is located at 923 West Oak and includes wall texture variations and a tower with curved glass window.