Pfeiffer Home

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. Now, if you wanted to make a name for yourself in Bastrop around the turn of the twentieth century, you had to be clever about it. Joseph R.

Pfeiffer understood that. Born right there in Bastrop in 1876, he grew up watching a town take shape, and he decided he was going to be one of the men doing the shaping. He erected homes and buildings all across that town, and by 1901 he had something special in mind.

He was taking a bride, a woman named Freda, and he was going to build her a house. But not just any house. This was going to be a statement.

Pfeiffer wanted every neighbor, every passerby, every potential client who laid eyes on that residence to know exactly what kind of craftsman he was. So he loaded that home with fine materials and the best work his hands could produce, hoping to display his skill and attract future business. The house was a showcase, plain and simple, and the man knew it.

Now, Pfeiffer wasn't just swinging a hammer, either. He operated a lumber company and a mill, so he had access to what he needed and he used it well. As the years went on and the family grew, he enlarged the dwelling to accommodate six children under that roof.

Six. That house had to do some work. Freda lived in that home until her passing in 1960.

Joseph himself had died in 1944. Between the two of them, they saw a whole century move through those rooms. And the house is still there in Bastrop, doing exactly what Pfeiffer always intended.

Still making the point.

What the marker says

A native of Bastrop, Joseph R. Pfeiffer (1876 - 1944) erected many homes and buildings in the town. He built this turn-of-the-century residence for his bride Freda (d. 1960) in 1901. Hoping to display his skill as a builder and attract future business, he made the house a showcase of fine materials and craftsmanship. Pfeiffer, who operated a lumber company and mill, later enlarged the dwelling to accommodate his family of six children. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1978