Rudolph and Therese Runge House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight out of Mason County. In the 1880s and 1890s, a stonemason by the name of Thomas Broad was building homes in Mason, and he had a style you could pick out from halfway down the road. Turned posts.

Random ashlar stone laid up with a unique pointing treatment. Articulated quoins at the corners. Victorian touches that said somebody here knew what they were doing.

This house was one of his. For a while it belonged to E.J. and Louise Broad, who held it from 1891 until 1895, when they sold it to Therese Runge, born Marschall, who came into the world in 1855 and, well, she would be connected to this house for a very long time. Her husband Rudolph Runge was a German native, born in 1849, who made his mark in Mason as a noted local attorney.

The two of them raised sons here, Carl and Roscoe, and both boys followed a path into law and politics, becoming prominent figures in their own right. Rudolph passed in 1914. Therese held on.

The family finally sold the home in 1946, the same year Therese herself died, born 1855, gone 1946, a life as long and solid as the ashlar stone Thomas Broad set into those walls. Subsequent owners kept the Victorian elements intact, all those details that mark a Thomas Broad house for what it is. Some buildings outlast everyone who ever lived inside them, and this one, sitting in Mason County, looks like it intends to keep right on doing exactly that.

What the marker says

In the 1880s and 1890s, stonemason Thomas Broad built several homes in Mason similar to this one, owned by E.J. and Louise Broad from 1891 until they sold it in 1895 to Therese (Marschall) Runge (1855-1946). Her husband, Rudolph Runge (1849-1914), was a German native who became a noted local attorney. The couple's sons, Carl and Roscoe, became prominent lawyers and politicians. The family sold the home in 1946, and subsequent owners have maintained the building's Victorian elements, many of which are common in Thomas Broad's work. These include turned posts and the use of random ashlar stone with unique pointing treatment and articulated quoins. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2003