DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just here to pass it along. Now, you want to talk about a house with some stories baked right into its walls — literally — let's talk about the Brueggemann-Sandbo House in Travis County. Julius Brueggemann was born in 1851, a German stone and cement mason by trade, and not just any mason.
This was a man who had worked on the Texas State Capitol. You don't get much more Texas than that. Around 1907, Julius and his two sons got to work, and what they built wasn't your standard timber-frame affair.
They molded concrete blocks — by hand — and stacked them up into something solid and lasting. Julius was born in 1851 and lived until 1922, and I'd wager he knew how to build things meant to outlast a man. The house served as a residence for his son Max, which makes it a family place through and through.
Then 1913 rolls around, and the home is sold to Anders and Anna Sandbo. Now, the marker makes sure you know who Anna Sandbo was, and rightly so. She was a civic leader, yes — but that's almost underselling it.
Anna Sandbo was the first woman graduate of the University of Texas Law School. And then she went right ahead and became the first woman attorney in Austin. Anna Sandbo lived until 1964.
A concrete house built by a Capitol mason, passed on to the first woman attorney in Austin. That's not just a structure — that's a through-line of firsts.
What the marker says
Julius Brueggemann (1851-1922), a German stone and cement mason who had worked on the State Capitol, built this house with the help of his two sons about 1907. Constructed of molded concrete blocks, it served as a residence for his son Max. In 1913 the home was sold to Anders and Anna Sandbo. A civic leader, Anna (d. 1964) was the first woman graduate of the University of Texas Law School and the first woman attorney in Austin. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981