Historic Belding Ranch is the Modern-Day Gaines Bend

Story by Steve Nussbaum | Photos by Matthew Renfro

The Historic Belding ranch house is located in what we all know as Gaines Bend. The seventh generation of the Beldings now live in the home.

The Belding Ranch is the type of place where movies are made.

The ranch is the heart and soul of what is known as Gaines Bend, and the historic Belding Ranch house, built in 1859, has been the home to seven generations of the Belding family.

The main house on the property is a mix of modern conveniences connected by a series of halls that still incorporate the original cabin and document the transition of the property over decades of history. It’s the type of place that might be found on a movie set instead of being nestled among the modern luxury homes and quaint lake cabins that make up Gaines Bend today.

The original property was settled by Henry Belding and his first wife, Elizabeth, who came to Texas from Arkansas. At the time, Palo Pinto County was considered the end of the frontier, known for its good land and opportunity.

The original one-room log cabin the couple settled into is now a bathroom, but with the original stone fireplace and walls made of timber that evoke scenes out of the television show “Little House on the Prairie.” Belding’s wife passed away during a trip back to Texas from Arkansas, and he later married Mary Wilder. Together, they survived drought, thieves and incursions from Native Americans as they settled in at the ranch.

The original schoolhouse built on the property in the 1800’s is still standing. The current owners would like to bring it back to life.

The smokehouse is one of the original structures connected to the main breezeway that runs through the house, and it was where meat was packed in large tubs of salt and wooden boxes to cure. These days the smokehouse is being used as a storage space, with various tools from the ranch adorned on its walls, but guests still can see the poles coming out of the walls that were used to hang the meat.

Behind the historic ranch is a creek that was the only source of water for the settlers. It is said that, on more than one occasion, Mary Belding encountered Native Americans on her trips to gather water.

The original log cabin, built in 1859 and smoke house are still part of the current home today.

Across from the original log cabin, which is now a bathroom, is the second structure Belding built for his growing family. This log cabin now serves as a family room, with modern furnishings that are accented by the original stone fireplace and log cabin walls. None of the walls or doors in the house are square or an ordinary size, but each room has a story to tell.

Henry and Mary Belding had three children, and their pictures all hang in the breezeway on a wall honoring the families that built this home one room at a time.

The back bedroom, located off the log cabin living room, started out as a back porch for one of Belding’s children, but these days it serves as a bedroom, with Western art mixed with an iron bed. The room is bright and airy, and most of the art was part of the original homestead.

There also was a middle bedroom built into this part of the house that is believed to have housed the ranch hands. It wasn’t unusual in those days for the family members and ranch hands to live together in the same house.

The front part of the home was built around 1884. Mary Belding wanted something a little more elegant, and many of the troubles the family experienced early on had dissipated, so the front three rooms were constructed separately from the log cabin structures. The plan was to tear down the old log cabin structures and expand the main house.

The front part of the house is entered through an elegant hall space anchored by a piano made in Galveston in the 1860s- 1870s by Thomas Goggan & Brothers. The piano belonged to Daysy Walsh Belding, and a stylish picture of her sits on a corner of the piano. The McCaigs, the Belding descendants who own the home, have kept the look of what the original entrance may have looked like.

The master bedroom is a large airy space at the front of the home built in the 1880s. It features tall ceilings and windows, moldings and an iron bed. The wall of hats have been found over the decades.

To the right is the master bedroom, with floor-to-ceiling windows that give the large space a bright, open feel, and adjacent to it is a bathroom with modern designs. The master bedroom is anchored by a large, iron-framed bed paired with wallpaper that mimics the look of the original room. Next to the bed is a collection of work hats worn by family members who worked on the ranch over the decades, and in the bedroom there’s a glass cabinet filled with books collected over the years. It serves as a nod to the Beldings, who put a priority on education and made sure all their children were able to read.

The parlor room, built in 1884, also is a large space with floor-to-ceiling windows. The mix of modern furniture design and 19th century accents make the room feel like a space that has many stories to tell. The small writing desk in the corner, which belonged to Henry Belding, made the journey with him from Arkansas in 1859. The McCaigs have kept the large fireplace as the anchor of the space. These front rooms all have tall ceilings and moldings that represent a lifestyle transition for the Beldings as they became more affluent.

A large dining room next to the parlor is anchored by a table that can seat a dozen people. The McCaigs have kept a mix of different styles and antiques to mute the fact that the home is closing in on its second century of existence. Adjacent to the dining room is a modern kitchen, with high-end appliances and all the comforts of modern living. The countertops in the kitchen were constructed from old cedar fence posts from the ranch, most of these have been replaced with quartz today.

The McCaig’s large dining room seats ten and is a mix of eclectic chairs collected over the decades.

The front of the home, meanwhile, features a huge

screened-in porch and an open porch that runs the entire length of the front of the house. It’s still a working ranch, though, circled by rock fences – one of the first ranches to have fences in the area, in fact – and many of the barns and outbuildings still stand.

One of the more unusual buildings on the property is the old schoolhouse. The two-room structure has a rock fireplace, and some of the old chairs and desks are still there. The family would like to someday restore this schoolhouse back to its former glory.

The original ranch was much larger than just the 4,000 acres that make up Gaines Bend today. The ranch was split up between generations, but no one wanted the parcel of the ranch along Possum Kingdom Lake, because the lake and cliff line made it difficult to graze cattle. Even so, each generation in the family has made the old homestead its own. The McCaigs and their children take great pride in taking care of the historic home, which is located in the middle of Gaines Bend, and they want to maintain the property for the generations yet to come.

So for the folks who are out on the lake admiring the incredible luxury homes built along the shores and cliffs of Gaines Bend, just know that this particular scene was more than 160 years in the making. It’s great to see the Belding family still take such great pride in the property and their legacy.

You can still see the stone fireplace and remnants of old school chairs and furniture left in the original schoolhouse on the Belding Ranch.

The Belding Ranch may be located in the center of several hundred large lake homes and cabins, but its still a working ranch for the family.

The original log cabin that Henry and Elizabeth lived in is now a bathroom. You can still see the original cedar timbers, stone fireplace and tin ceiling. Henry and Elizabeth Belding moved into the cabin in 1859.

The older part of the home looks like something out of “Little House on the Prairie.” To think a family of four originally lived in this one room cabin in the middle of Gaines Bend.

The original smokehouse used to store meat, is still part of the house and used now for storage. You can see the extensive collection of old tools used on the ranch in the last 160 plus years.

The kitchen has been totally redone and is a modern large kitchen, but with a style honoring the history of the home.

A glass book case houses some of the original books left in the home by earlier generations. An early emphasis was placed on education and reading even when they were settling in the area in the 1800s.

Off the front entry space is the Thomas Grogan piano brought from Galveston, Texas in the 1870s. On the corner of the piano is a picture of Daysy Belding as a young girl.

The center breezeway connecting all the rooms of the original house and add-ons is home to a wall honoring all seven generations who have lived on the property for over 160 years.

Adjacent to the original log cabin is the second addition to the home. As the Belding family grew, they needed more space and added this cabin. It is now a stylish family and game room for the McCaig family. All the timbers, doors and fireplace are original to the 1800s home.

What was once a screened in porch, has now been closed up and is now a fun bedroom for Cyrus McCaig, age 2.

Original stone fences line the ranch. One of the first ranches to have fences in the 1800s.

In the front parlor space is a writing desk bought by Henry Belding from Arkansas in 1859.

Today, Don and Taylor McCaig reside in the historic ranch house alongside their two children, Penny, aged 9, and Cyrus, aged 2. They are dedicated to enhancing the home while preserving its rich heritage.