Kallus House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the Kallus House in Fayette County. Now settle in, because this house has a few stories layered inside it, like rings in an old oak. The house itself went up in 1885 and 1886.

Somebody built it with care, with those projecting bays pushing out into the Texas air, ornate details working their way around every corner, and a corner entry that still turns heads. Gothic Revival styling, they call it. And then there's the separate cellar house out back, which, if you've ever lived through a Texas summer or a Texas storm, you understand the wisdom of that completely.

The house stood and waited, as good houses do, and then in 1916 the Kallus family arrived, and that's when things get interesting. Frank J. Kallus was born in 1872, a Moravian native who came to Texas in 1890.

He taught school over in Ellinger, just nearby, and he married a woman named Elizabeth Weisner. Together they had four children. Then Elizabeth died in 1902, and two years after that loss, Frank gathered up his family and moved them to La Grange.

He built a life there as a county official and a lawyer. He was a man of some standing, clearly, and he lived a long life, passing in 1951. Upon his death, the house transferred to his daughter Anna Kallus.

Anna held onto it. She was born into a world her father had shaped, and she kept faith with this place all the way until her own death in 1995. Two lives, one house, and walls that knew how to hold both of them.

That corner entry still opens the same way it always did.

What the marker says

Built in 1885-86, the house became the residence of the Kallus family in 1916. Moravian native Frank J. Kallus (1872-1951) came to Texas in 1890 and later taught school in nearby Ellinger. He married Elizabeth Weisner, and the couple had four children. Two years after her death in 1902, he moved his family to La Grange, where he was a county official and lawyer. The home transferred to daughter Anna Kallus (d. 1995) upon his death. It reflects Gothic Revival styling in projecting bays and ornate details. Features include a corner entry and a separate cellar house. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2004