Ernst and Antoinette Gruene House

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the Ernst and Antoinette Gruene House, and I'm just passing it along. Now, there's a stretch of Comal County that folks have long called Comaltown, and out there stands a house that has been standin since 1852. That's not a misprint.

Eighteen fifty-two. The house was built by Ernst Gruene, born in 1819, and his wife Maria Antoinette, born in 1826, she came to that marriage with the maiden name Kloepper, and together they made something that outlasted just about everything around it. Ernst and Antoinette had come to Texas in 1845, which means by the time they raised those walls, they'd already spent seven years figuring out this land.

They raised three children in that house. Ernst Jr., Heinrich, who went by H.D., and a daughter named Johanna. Three kids, one roof, and that roof had a very particular design behind it.

The house was built in what's called the dogtrot style. Now that's a style with a wide open hall running straight through the middle, rooms on either side, and the whole point was to let a breeze move through. In a Texas summer, you don't take a breeze for granted.

That hall was doing real work. The walls themselves were handmade. Sun-dried adobe brick, shaped by hand, not fired in a kiln.

And the frames were hand-hewn native mountain cedar timber. German settlers in that time and place built that way, and the Gruenes were no different from their neighbors in that regard. The house has been altered over the years, as houses tend to be when later families move through and make their own accommodations.

But it stands. It still stands out there in what was once called Comaltown, carrying the weight of the Gruene name and the Gruene legacy in Comal County. Ernst Gruene lived until 1914.

Antoinette lived until 1917. The house they built together in 1852 is still there to tell the story they started.

What the marker says

Located in an area historically known as Comaltown, this home was built in 1852 by Ernst (1819-1914) and Maria Antoinette (Kloepper) (1826-1917) Gruene. They immigrated to Texas in 1845 and raised their three children, Ernst, JR., Heinrich (H.D.), and Johanna, in this home. Built in the dogtrot style, the house featured a wide hall with rooms at either side to allow a breeze for ventilation. Similar to other German homes at the time, the house was constructed with handmade sun-dried adobe brick and hand-hewn native mountain cedar timber frames. Altered over the years to accommodate later families, the house stands as a reminder of the Gruenes" legacy in Comal county. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK - 2018