Wells-LaRue House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Somewhere in Travis County stands a house that's been holdin' its ground since about 1850, and the story behind it is the kind that gets handed down not just in words, but in the very walls themselves. The man who built it was Abner Cook, a pioneer architect with enough of a reputation that the marker calls him famed, plain and simple.

Cook built this place for a man named Waymen Wells, and here's the part that gets you thinkin'. Wells didn't need this house because he lived nearby. No, he lived ten miles north.

Ten miles, back in those days, was a serious piece of ground to cover when you needed to conduct business or take a little pleasure in town. So Wells did what a practical man does. He had Abner Cook build him a proper town house, a place to land when the world required his presence.

Now, a house like that, built with care and intention, has a way of pulling people toward it. Wells's grandchildren, the LaRues, moved in so they could attend school sessions, and just like that, the house became something more than a businessman's convenience. It became a home in the fullest sense.

And the marker notes, matter of factly and with no small amount of weight, that a third generation was living there still. Three generations in one house. Abner Cook built it about 1850, and it kept right on being someone's home.

That's not just good construction. That's a story that refuses to end.

What the marker says

Built about 1850 by famed pioneer architect Abner Cook, for Waymen Wells, who lived 10 miles north, but needed town house for business and pleasure trips. His grandchildren, the LaRues, moved in to attend school sessions. Third generation now lives in the home.