Leyendecker House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Leyendecker House in Webb County. Now settle in, because this story's got a few layers to it. It starts in the old country, winds through the Texas Hill Country, and ends up right here in Laredo, built in stone and memory and something called Mudejar style.

Let me unpack that for you. John Z. Leyendecker came over from Germany and put down roots in the Texas Hill Country in 1845.

That's early Texas, folks. The kind of early where you're figuring things out as you go. Somewhere between 1848 and 1850, he made his way to Laredo, and Laredo, it seems, was the kind of place that suited a man of his ambitions.

He became a prominent merchant, a Confederate army officer, a civic leader. The kind of man a town remembers. And in 1866, he built the house.

Now, the house itself deserves its own moment. It was designed in the Mudejar tradition, that's Moorish in its roots, and it shows. Concrete cornice, an arched doorway, a flared pilaster base.

The floor plan runs asymmetrical, with patios the locals called corredores, and arcades known as galerias. It's a building that knows exactly what it is and doesn't apologize for it. His first wife was Maria Andrea Benavides, daughter of a prominent Laredo family.

After her death, he married her sister, Juliana. Two sisters, one house, one family holding it all together. And hold together it did.

That house stayed in the Leyendecker family all the way until 1995. From 1866 to 1995, it stood right where he built it. Some things, when they're made right, they just last.

What the marker says

John Z. Leyendecker, a German immigrant who settled in the Texas Hill Country in 1845, came to Laredo between 1848 and 1850. A prominent merchant, Confederate army officer and civic leader, he built this house in 1866. His first wife was Maria Andrea Benavides, daughter of a prominent Laredo family. After her death he married her sister, Juliana. The house remained in the family until 1995. Designed in the "Mudejar" (Moorish) tradition, its features include a concrete cornice, arched doorway and flared pilaster base. The asymmetrical plan features patios (corredores) and arcades (galerias). Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1999