Burcham House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Burcham House in Williamson County. Now settle in, because a good house has a story, and this one's got some layers worth peeling back. Back in 1908 and 1909, a home went up in Georgetown that wasn't just four walls and a roof.

It was designed by Charles H. Page, a noted Austin architect, and it was built for the family of a Georgetown dentist by the name of William Joseph Burcham. Now, Dr.

Burcham was born in 1876, and his wife Mayme was born in 1882, and together those two were civic and cultural leaders of their community. Not just prominent folks, mind you. Leaders.

The kind of people a town leans on. And the house Page designed for them? It was something to look at.

Dutch Colonial Revival style, which means you've got a cross gambrel roof sweeping down in that distinctive way, square brick piers holding things steady, a wraparound porch just begging you to sit a spell, and shingled gable ends giving the whole thing a character you don't forget in a hurry. Charles H. Page put his mark on Georgetown with this one.

Dr. Burcham passed in 1932, and Mayme carried on until 1962. And here's the part that says everything you need to know about a house built with that kind of intention: the Burcham family held onto that home all the way until 1981.

From 1908 to 1981. That's not a house somebody was eager to let go of. Some places just hold people, and some people hold a place.

The Burcham House, it seems, did both.

What the marker says

Designed by noted Austin architect Charles H. Page, this home was built for the family of Georgetown dentist William Joseph Burcham (1876-1932) in 1908-09. Both Dr. Burcham and his wife Mayme (1882-1962) were civic and cultural leaders of the community. Features of the Dutch Colonial Revival home include a cross gambrel roof, square brick piers, wraparound porch, and shingled gable ends. The home remained in the Burcham family until 1981. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1988