A 116-year-old mansion in Belton is getting a face lift.

The Curtis Mansion — which is owned by University Mary Hardin-Baylor — is in the process of getting restored.

“We want to be mindful of the historical nature of the home and try to preserve as much of that as we can, that’s our intent,” said Dr. Steve Theodore, Senior Vice President for Administration and Chief Operating Officer at UMHB.

The mansion is on the national register of historic places.

“It’s really kind of a relic of the power of the cotton industry in Central Texas in the early 20th century late 19th century cotton was a huge economic driver at that time, so the original family who built this wonderful eclectic building were cotton farmers,” said Coleman Hampton, Executive Director at the Bell County Museum.

For over a century the home has had different owners, but since 2015 it belongs to the University.

“The exterior of the house should remain the same, we’re going to repaint and do some work on the roof but the average person won’t notice they’ll be any difference to the exterior of the home,” said Dr. Theodore.

Just down the street, the Bell County Museum has an exact replica of the home and even a painting of it.

“I think it’s fantastic, historic building preservation is something that I have always held very dear to my heart so anytime that a university is willing to fund the preservation of a historic structure like this, the home is significant in Bell County’s history and it’s also central to the Mary Hardin Baylor Campus,” said Hampton.

In fact, it’s so central to the campus that many thought it already belonged to the school.

“That’s been a common misconception over the years that because the home was located so close to our campus, many people already thought that the University owned the home, which we didn’t up until 2015,” said Dr. Theodore.

The renovations should take about a month or two at the most.

“It’s an important landmark to our community, it’s now an important landmark to the University and we believe that the students and the faculty and staff will enjoy it for many years to come,” said Dr. Theodore.

As of now, the school doesn’t know what the mansion will be used for.