William Wahrmund House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, if you're drivin' through Gillespie County and you spot a fine native limestone house dressed up with Victorian porch detailing, you might want to slow down, because that structure has got a story layered right into its walls. We're talkin' about the William Wahrmund House, and friend, the man behind it was no ordinary Hill Country citizen.

William Wahrmund served as Gillespie County Judge not once, not twice, but across several separate stretches, covering 1852 to 1862, then again in 1864, and then a long run from 1876 all the way to 1890. The man knew how to hold a seat of authority. Born in 1824, he passed in 1890, and in between those years he built himself a place in this county that was about as solid as the limestone he built with.

In 1875, Wahrmund hired two local stonemasons, H. Hennersdorf and Louis Schmidt, to raise this very residence. Now, he wasn't building it for himself.

He already had his own home and store nearby. No, this house was built for family. And family is exactly who filled it.

Over the years, three of his sons came to call it home, William L., Otto, and Henry, and after them, several grandchildren carried on inside those thick limestone walls. The house passed through generations like a good name ought to. By 1976, the Hill Country Savings and Loan Association stepped in and restored the structure, bringing it back to the condition a building of that character deserves.

The Victorian porch detailing, still there, still graceful, still doing what good craftsmanship does. It endures. William Wahrmund built for the long run, and the long run is exactly what he got.

What the marker says

Gillespie County Judge in 1852-62, 1864, and 1876-90, William Wahrmund (1824-90) hired local stonemasons H. Hennersdorf and Louis Schmidt to build this residence near his own home and store in 1875. Over a period of years, the house was occupied by three of Wahrmund's sons, William L., Otto, and Henry, and by several grandchildren. Victorian porch detailing decorates the native limestone structure, restored in 1976 by Hill Country Savings and Loan Association. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1977