John Matthew Cape House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, if you're rollin' through Hays County and you spot a house that just seems to carry itself a little taller than the others, well, there's a story behind those walls. This is the John Matthew Cape House, and it starts right at the turn of the twentieth century.

The year was 1902, and this late Victorian style home was built for the family of John Matthew Cape. Cape was born in 1861, and by the time that house went up, he was a man with irons in the fire, plural. He owned several cotton gins along the San Marcos River.

Not one. Several. And if that wasn't enough to keep a man busy, he was instrumental in the organization of San Marcos Utilities and the State Bank and Trust Co.

Infrastructure, finance, industry. John Matthew Cape had a hand in shaping the fabric of that community in ways most folks never get the chance to. And he did it all with a full house at home.

He and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Bales, who was born in 1870, had seven children together. Mary Elizabeth lived until 1941, long enough to see the world change around that house more times than anyone could have counted when they first laid the floorboards. Now, the house itself.

That's worth a moment, too. The outstanding features include decorative woodwork and a wraparound porch on each story. Not just the ground floor.

Each story. That's a house that was built to be seen, and built to breathe, and built to last. And here it still stands, tellin' the whole story without sayin' a word.

What the marker says

This late Victorian style home was built in 1902 for the family of John Matthew Cape (1861-1933). Cape owned several cotton gins along the San Marcos River and was instrumental in the organization of San Marcos Utilities and the State Bank & Trust Co. He and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Bales (1870-1941), had 7 children. Outstanding features of the Cape House include its decorative woodwork and the wraparound porch on each story. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985