Rylander-Kyle House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Rylander-Kyle House in Hays County. Now, some houses just sit there. And then some houses announce themselves.

The Rylander-Kyle House is very much the second kind. It starts with a man named Ignatius Bramwell Rylander, a distinguished agriculturalist who came out of Alabama. In 1912 and into 1913, he built this imposing residence, and he did not do it quietly.

Rylander brought in a noted architect by the name of Roy L. Thomas, and Thomas answered the call in style. He designed the home in the Colonial Revival style, all classical details, a symmetrical frame edifice of balanced horizontal and vertical lines.

That is the kind of language that makes a house sound like a declaration. The front facade is centered on a shallow pedimented portico, which opens onto a double-level porch supported by six Ionic columns. Six of them.

Standing at attention. You get the sense Rylander wanted folks to know, from a considerable distance, that someone of consequence lived here. And for a good while, someone did.

Then we arrive at 1943, when a man named Henry C. Kyle, Jr., an attorney and a former legislator, bought the house from the estate of his grandfather. His grandfather.

The same Rylander line that built the thing. And here is the part of the story that doesn't need any embellishment at all. The marker tells us it remains in the family today.

Some houses get sold off, carved up, forgotten. This one just keeps being passed down. Roy L.

Thomas drew those six Ionic columns a long time ago, and they are still holdin' up something worth holding.

What the marker says

IGNATIUS BRAMWELL RYLANDER, A DISTINGUISHED AGRICULTURALIST FROM ALABAMA, BUILT THIS IMPOSING RESIDENCE IN 1912-13. NOTED ARCHITECT ROY L. THOMAS DESIGNED THE HOME IN THE COLONIAL REVIVAL STYLE WITH CLASSICAL DETAILS AND A SYMMETRICAL FRAME EDIFICE OF BALANCED HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL LINES. THE FRONT FAÇADE IS CENTERED ON A SHALLOW PEDIMENTED PORTICO, WHICH LEADS ONTO A DOUBLE-LEVEL PORCH SUPPORTED BY SIX IONIC COLUMNS. HENRY C. KYLE, JR., AN ATTORNEY AND FORMER LEGISLATOR, BOUGHT THE HOUSE FROM THE ESTATE OF HIS GRANDFATHER IN 1943. IT REMAINS IN THE FAMILY TODAY.