Helena and Robert Ziller House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Helena and Robert Ziller House. Now, some homes just sit on their lots, minding their business. And then there are homes like this one, homes that feel like they were conjured up on purpose, placed just so, above a creek and a river, as if the land itself had been waiting for someone to get it right.

Robert Ziller came from a prominent pioneer Austin family, and in 1937 he and his wife Helena set out to build something worthy of that bluff above Blunn Creek and the Colorado River. What they built was a Mediterranean Revival style home, designed by Lee M. Smith, and it is not a house that whispers.

It announces itself. The facade is stucco, asymmetrical, with a prominent front gable, a cantilevered window, and an entry of ornamental ironwork so dramatic that some of it is attributed to Weigl Ironworks. You don't walk through that entry so much as you make an entrance.

The Zillers called the property Edgecliff Gardens, and that name carries its own quiet poetry. They practiced organic gardening there, and they made it a haven for animals. A bluff above the creek, ironwork at the door, a garden tended with intention, and animals finding shelter on the grounds.

Robert Ziller was a descendant of pioneer Austin stock, and it seems like he and Helena knew exactly what kind of place they wanted to leave behind. Edgecliff Gardens is still standing up there on that bluff, and it's still making its presence known.

What the marker says

HELENA AND ROBERT ZILLER HOUSE ROBERT ZILLER, DESCENDANT OF A PROMINENT PIONEER AUSTIN FAMILY, AND HIS WIFE, HELENA, CONSTRUCTED THIS MEDITERRANEAN REVIVAL STYLE HOME IN 1937. THE ZILLERS CALLED THE PROPERTY EDGECLIFF GARDENS WHERE THEY PRACTICED ORGANIC GARDENING AND CREATED A HAVEN FOR ANIMALS. SITUATED ON A BLUFF ABOVE BLUNN CREEK AND THE COLORADO RIVER AND DESIGNED BY LEE M. SMITH, THIS HOME FEATURES AN ASYMMETRICAL STUCCO FAÇADE, PROMINENT FRONT GABLE, CANTILEVERED WINDOW AND A DRAMATIC ENTRY OF ORNAMENTAL IRONWORK, SOME OF WHICH IS ATTRIBUTED TO WEIGL IRONWORKS.