DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Brizendine House in Travis County. Now, Austin's had its share of grand mansions and storied estates, but every now and then you come across a house that tells a quieter, maybe more honest story — and the Brizendine House is exactly that kind of place. John R.
Brizendine was born in Kentucky in 1829, and somewhere along the way this man became the kind of fellow who could do just about anything you needed done. Carpenter, machinist, miller — if it required skill with your hands or your mind, Brizendine had a claim on it. Around 1870, he built himself a house in Austin.
Didn't reach for marble columns or wraparound galleries to shout his standing in the world. He built in limestone, rough ashlar, simple and vernacular — the kind of construction that says, plainly and without apology, this is a working man's home, and there's no shame in that. Now, the Victorian era had a way of sneaking its influence into even the most modest structures, and sure enough, you can see it in the exterior proportions of this house.
A little refinement around the edges, a quiet nod to the times, but nothing that outran the life it was meant to hold. And John R. Brizendine lived in that house.
Lived there, by all accounts, right up until his death in 1914. Eighty-five years of life, and he spent the last several decades of them inside the walls he'd cut and set himself. There's something in that worth sitting with for a moment.
The house passed on after that, as houses do. Mrs. Elizabeth Gordon bought the home in 1928, and her family kept the tradition alive — kept those limestone walls inhabited and cared for all the way until 1972.
That's over a hundred years of people making a life inside a structure one Kentucky-born Austin craftsman decided to build around 1870. Some houses whisper about wealth or power. This one just quietly tells you what it meant to be a working middle class family in late nineteenth century Austin.
And it's still standing there, saying so.
What the marker says
This simple vernacular rough ashlar house represents the life style of the late 19th century working middle class family in Austin. The exterior proportions of the structure reflect Victorian influence. Built of limestone about 1870 by John R. Brizendine (1829-1914), an Austin carpenter, machinist, and miller. Brizendine, a native of Kentucky, lived here until his death. Mrs.Elizabeth Gordon bought the home in 1928, and members of here family lived here until 1972. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-1974