Miss Belle’s House: Richardson History Finds a New Home at Huffhines Park

It is not every day that you see a two-story Victorian house traveling down Plano Road.

But in August 2025, one of Richardson’s most treasured historic landmarks made a carefully coordinated three-mile journey to its new permanent home at Huffhines Park.

Miss Belle’s House is more than a charming old home with a front porch, steep gables and decorative Victorian trim. It is a tangible connection to Richardson’s earliest days and to a teacher who helped educate generations of local children.

Who Was Miss Belle?

Virginia Bell Robberson, better known as “Miss Belle,” was born in 1870 and became a beloved teacher in the Richardson community.

The house was originally constructed between 1886 and 1889 near the corner of Sherman and Kaufman Streets in downtown Richardson. In 1902, Miss Belle’s mother, Margaret Robberson, purchased the home for her 32-year-old daughter so she would have both a place to live and a place to operate her school.

Miss Belle lived upstairs and taught young children downstairs for nearly 40 years. Her school served some of Richardson’s earliest families, and a 1931 advertisement in the Richardson Echo listed tuition at just $4 per month. Newspaper accounts also show that she organized class trips to the zoo and end-of-year picnics for her students.

The house became so closely associated with her that, more than 80 years after her death, Richardson residents still know it simply as Miss Belle’s House.

A House That Has Moved With Richardson

Miss Belle’s House has had several addresses during its long life.

In 1979, the Couch family donated the home to the City of Richardson. It was moved from its original location at 206 Sherman Street to Owens Spring Creek Farm on Lookout Drive. The Richardson Service League, later known as the Junior League of Richardson, helped restore the interior and exterior, and the house opened for supervised public tours in 1981. It received a Texas Historical Marker the following year.

For many longtime Richardson residents, visiting Miss Belle’s House at Owens Farm was a childhood introduction to local history. Students could step through the front door and experience a small piece of what life and education looked like in early Richardson.

When redevelopment plans affected the Owens Farm property, the house was moved again in 2021, this time to a temporary location at the City’s Fire Training and Emergency Operations Center.

The Move to Huffhines Park

On August 10, 2025, Miss Belle’s House began what the City describes as its final journey.

The building was placed on moving equipment and carefully transported approximately three miles down Plano Road to Huffhines Park at 200 N. Plano Road. Rolling intersection closures, police assistance and utility crews were needed to help the Victorian home reach its new location safely. Richardson residents gathered along the route and at the park to watch a familiar piece of local history travel to its next chapter.

Huffhines Park was selected in part because of its central location and proximity to Duck Creek Trail, Huffhines Recreation Center, nearby neighborhoods and other community amenities. The long-term vision is for the house to become a cultural and educational destination where future generations can learn about Richardson’s beginnings.

Restoration Is Now Underway

The move to Huffhines Park was only the first step.

In late June 2026, the house was moved approximately 30 feet within the park so contractors could begin preparing its permanent foundation. Crews are installing foundation beams, tying steel, drilling piers and making exterior repairs. The City expects this phase of the project to be completed by the end of summer 2026, weather permitting.

Future phases could include additional interior restoration, visitor amenities and educational programming. The City is also seeking philanthropic support for interpretive signs, landscaping and park benches around the home. Miss Belle’s House will remain closed to the public until renovations make it safe for visitors.

Why Preserving Miss Belle’s House Matters

Richardson has grown from a small railroad community into one of North Texas’ most established cities. Growth is a good thing, but it makes preserving the places that tell a community’s story even more important.

Historic buildings give us something that photographs and written records cannot fully recreate. They give us scale, texture and a sense of how people actually lived. They remind us that before Richardson became known for technology, major employers and established neighborhoods, it was a much smaller community shaped by teachers, families and local gathering places.

Moving a historic house three times is certainly not the simplest form of preservation. But because residents, local organizations and the City continued to find a place for it, Miss Belle’s House has survived while much of early Richardson has disappeared.

Its new location at Huffhines Park gives the house more than a permanent address. It gives it the opportunity to become part of Richardson’s daily community life once again.

And I think that is exactly where local history belongs.

What other Richardson buildings, neighborhoods or local landmarks do you believe are worth preserving?

As a Richardson native and longtime North Dallas REALTOR®, I love helping people understand not only the homes in our area, but also the history and character that make each community different. If you are considering buying, selling or making a move in Richardson or North Dallas, reach out. I would be happy to help you explore your options and create a strategy that fits your next chapter.