Robert Early McKie House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. Back in 1906, in San Marcos, Hays County, a man named Robert Early McKie decided it was time to build himself a proper house. Now McKie was no stranger to that land.

He was a San Marcos native, an attorney, and a descendant of area pioneers. The kind of man who had roots going down deep into the Texas soil before most folks had even heard of the place. He was born in 1875, and by 1906 he knew exactly what he wanted and exactly who he was going to get to build it.

That man was H. C. Leffingwell, a local contractor.

McKie handed Leffingwell two thousand dollars, and Leffingwell got to work. Two thousand dollars. You sit with that number a moment.

For two thousand dollars, Leffingwell raised a one-story wood frame house that couldn't quite make up its mind which style it wanted to be, and I mean that as the highest compliment. The tall windows lean Italianate, reaching up like they've got somewhere important to be. The porch columns, though, those are Colonial Revival, standing steady and dignified as a courthouse.

Then you've got a pyramidal roof presiding over the whole affair, a central hall running through the heart of it, extended bays pushing out on the sides, and a wraparound porch that just invites you to slow down. Robert Early McKie lived until 1948. The house he commissioned for two thousand dollars in 1906 is still standing in San Marcos, telling anyone who'll listen that a man's roots, and a good contractor, can build something that outlasts just about everything else.

What the marker says

This house was built by local contractor H. C. Leffingwell for Robert Early McKie (1875-1948), San Marcos native, attorney, and descendant of area pioneers. Constructed in 1906 for $2,000, the one-story wood frame house reflects the Italianate style in its tall windows, and the Colonial Revival style in its porch columns. Other prominent features include a pyramidal roof, central hall, and extended bays with wraparound porch. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1989