History Of The Home
Pat and John Landergin were Kansas cattlemen who came to the Panhandle of Texas in the early 1900’s and purchased ranch land west of Amarillo. They were successful in this venture, and in 1912 they purchased four lots in Amarillo on which to build a home.
The architectural firm of Shepard, Farrar, and Wiser of Kansas City, Missouri was engaged to draw plans for the house, and in 1913 building was underway. Furnishings and interior design were also by a Kansas City firm, the Robert Keith Furniture and Carpet Company.
The house was completed and occupied by the summer of 1914, but by 1929 all members of the immediate Landergin family were deceased. Little more is known about the house until it was purchased in 1940 by Don and Sybil Harrington.
Sybil Buckingham was born in 1908 in Amarillo, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Buckingham and granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.E. Hughes, prominent Amarillo pioneers. Donald D. Harrington was born in 1898 in Edinburg, Illinois, and trained as an engineer at Washington University in St. Louis. He came to Amarillo in 1926 as a landman with the Marland Oil Company. He recognized the great potential of the petroleum industry and soon became highly successful as an independent oil and gas producer.
Don Harrington and Sybil Buckingham were married in 1935, and when the Landergin house became available in 1940, they purchased it. Redecorating and refurbishing began in the early 1940’s, but no structural changes have been made to the house since it was completed in 1914. Fine furnishings and appointments enhance Harrington House and include some which are original to the house and others which were carefully selected by the Harringtons. After the war years, the Harringtons traveled extensively, bringing decorative and fine arts back to Amarillo.
Mr. Harrington died in 1974, but Mrs. Harrington continued to live in the home. In 1977 Harrington House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Mrs. Harrington had admired the house since early childhood, and having lived there for many years, she determined that its unique beauty should never be destroyed but enjoyed by the public for years to come. In order to realize this dream, she gave the house, together with the grounds, furnishings, decorative arts, and fine arts to be open for tours as an historic home. It was privately endowed by Sybil Harrington and the Don and Sybil Harrington Foundation.
This fine Neoclassical mansion has over 15,000 square feet of floor space, 20 rooms, 8 bathrooms, and 7 fireplaces on 4 levels. The House is a reflection of the Harringtons’ lifestyle, their love of the decorative and fine arts, and their appreciation for the original structure and grounds.
