A s posh as the other mansions on Galveston's Broadway, Open Gates represented a slight diversion from the aesthetic of the time. It stays true to its surrounding forms through the use of multicolored brick and stonework, and the use of terra cotta decorations. But this is a much more simple design than the turrets and chimneys of either the Moody Mansion or the Bishop's Palace. The house was constructed for George Sealy, one of the founders of the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railway. He sold it to the Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad which in the 1990's merged with Burlington Northern to become Burlington Northern Santa Fe. The money from the sale of Sealy's railroad went into building his mansion which inspired other Galveston businessmen to demonstrate their wealth through architecture.
