DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do it justice. Back in 1903, somebody built a house in Bexar County worth talkin' about a hundred years later — and that alone ought to tell you something. It went up for the William Joske family, and right from the start it was not a modest affair.
Two stories of Queen Anne style, brick over frame, a pyramidal roof crowned with gables and dormers, an L-shaped floor plan with a projecting front entrance bay, and wraparound porches on both stories. Both stories, friend. That's a lot of porch.
Whoever was sittin' up there on the second floor had a view and they knew it. Now, the most prominent subsequent owner — and the marker's word is prominent, so we take it seriously — was William Baker Teagarden, who lived from 1854 to 1933. The man was an attorney, a judge, and for many years the representative of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Attorney, judge, and railroad man. That is a particular kind of weight to carry through a room. By the early twenty-first century, this house had become something rarer and quieter than prominent — it was one of a handful of historic homes still standin' in what had once been a cohesive neighborhood.
The neighbors, the street, the whole fabric of the place — mostly gone. But the Teagarden house held on, two stories of Queen Anne stubbornness, porches wrapped around it like arms that hadn't let go yet.
What the marker says
This residence was built in 1903 for the William Joske family. The most prominent subsequent owner was William Baker Teagarden (1854-1933). He was an attorney, judge and representative of the Southern Pacific Railroad for many years. The two-story Queen Anne style house features a brick over frame exterior, pyramidal roof with gables and dormers, and an L-shaped floor plan with a projecting front entrance bay and wraparound porches on both stories. By the early 21st century, this was one of a handful of historic homes remaining in a once-cohesive neighborhood. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark – 2008