Augustine Celaya House

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of a house that made its mark on Cameron County. Built in 1904, the Augustine Celaya House stands as a Late Victorian home, and not just any Late Victorian home. This one draws from two of the grandest architectural traditions of the era: the Italianate and the Queen Anne styles, both of them present, both of them speaking at once, and somehow the whole thing holds together beautifully.

Augustine and Laura Celaya designed it themselves. Think about that for a moment. This wasn't handed off entirely to someone else's vision.

Augustine and Laura had ideas about what their home should be, and they made it happen. And once it was done, that house didn't just sit quietly on its lot. It became prominent in the social and civic life of the city.

People gathered there. Things happened there that mattered to the community. Now, if you were walking up to that front door, here's what you'd be taking in.

Polygonal bays, reaching out from the facade with that distinctive many-sided geometry. A two-story inset curvilinear porch, which is exactly as elegant as it sounds, curves and height working together in a way that draws your eye upward. A transom over the front door, letting light spill in across the threshold.

And hood mouldings over the doors and windows, those little architectural eyebrows that give a building its character and keep the rain from having the last word. The Celaya family held onto this house for generations. It stayed in the family, carrying all of that history forward, one generation handing it to the next.

A home designed with intention, built in 1904, and built to last.

What the marker says

Built in 1904, this Late Victorian home exhibits features of the Italianate and Queen Anne styles of architecture. Owners Augustine and Laura Celaya designed the home, which became prominent in the social and civic life of the city. Features of the house, which remained in the Celaya Family for generations, include polygonal bays, a two-story inset curvilinear porch, a transom over the front door, and hood mouldings over the doors and windows.