100 Mill St
Waco, TX 76704, USA

East Terrace House (1872 - 1884)

100 Mill St. Waco, TX 76706
After moving from Tennessee in 1858, industrialist and businessman John Wesley Mann built this beautiful Italianate villa style house for his bride, Cemira. In 1874, John Wesley Mann, his wife, and their two young boys, Howard and J. W. Jr., moved into East Terrace. Mr. Mann was involved in several businesses in town, including the brick company that furnished the bricks used in constructing the Waco Suspension Bridge serving as a pivotal economical, cultural, and overall landmark for Waco. In 1884, he built an "Entertainment Wing" which included a ballroom for lavish parties. Parties in the East Terrace ballroom were a grand event. As an adult, Howard Mann recalled the beautifully dressed women and their handsome escorts dancing at the Summer Balls. Extra stable boys had to be hired to take care of the 50+ carriages and their horses. The house changed hands and uses several times. Other uses for the house include a sanatorium and boarding house. While touring East Terrace, you will see many objects within the home that were original to the Mann family including the cast iron bathtub in the bathroom and other furnishings.

Photo courtesy of Historic Waco

East Terrace House

Directory of Historic House Museums in the United States
By Patricia Chambers Walker and Thomas Graham
2000

Narrative:
Home of John Wesley Mann, owner of the brick company that supplied the bricks for the first suspension bridge over the Brazos River. An unusual architectural style for the area, the house was designed to remind his Cemira of her in New York.