Rountree Rock House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight with a little color on the side. This is the story of the Rountree Rock House, out in Bee County, and it is a story worth slowing down for. Joseph Gustave Rountree bought this land in 1875.

He had a plan for it, a real plan, the kind a man draws up when he's thinking about roots and generations and something that will last. He envisioned a house. A proper one.

But Joseph Gustave Rountree, born in 1838, died in 1880, and he never saw a single stone laid. Now, you might think that's where the story ends. It is not.

That is precisely where the story begins. His young widow, Elizabeth Cornelia, took that plan, took that land, and in 1881, she built the house herself. With the help of her father, John Stillwell, she saw it through.

And friend, she did not build it out of wishful thinking. The lumber was Florida pine, hauled all the way from Rockport. That alone tells you something about the determination involved.

The stone came from the nearby Mulas Hills, quarried as caliche, and here's the part that still gets me: caliche hardens in the open air. The longer it sits exposed to the elements, the tougher it gets. Elizabeth Cornelia built a house out of stone that keeps getting stronger with time.

And that house has withstood major storms. Major ones. It's still standing.

Still owned by descendants of the family, Adele Rountree, Ann Marie Rountree Anderson, and her sons. A man planned it. A widow built it.

And the family kept it. That rock house isn't just surviving. It's hardening.

What the marker says

On land bought 1875 by Joseph Gustave Rountree (1838-80), who planned house before his death. Built 1881 by his young widow, Elizabeth Cornelia, with aid of her father, John Stillwell. The lumber was Florida pine, hauled from Rockport. Stone, quarried as caliche and hardened by the air, came fron nearby Mulas Hills. Structure has withstood major stoms and is still owned by descendants: Adele Rountree, Ann Marie Rountree Anderson and sons. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1971