DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just the same. There's a house sitting in Travis County that's carried two family names and close to a century of stories inside its walls — the Williams-Weigl House, built around 1911, and it has held up just fine, thank you very much. Now, the man who started it all was Harvey Murdock Williams, a New York native who'd found his way to Austin and taken up work as a bookkeeper at Ramsey Nursery.
He and his wife Euphemia — she was a Sinclair before she was a Williams — they built this place together, a bungalow with a symmetrical plan, a three-bay porch out front, and a central door flanked by sidelights. The kind of home that looks like it knows exactly what it is and isn't apologizing for any of it. The Williams family kept that house through the years, and come the early 1940s it passed to their son, Harvey Sinclair Williams — educator, baseball coach, a man who carried both his parents' names like he meant to.
Then in 1947, a fellow named F. Lee Weigl moved his family in, and that's where the story picks up another thread entirely. See, Weigl came from a line of craftsmen.
His father, Fortunat, had that gift, and F. Lee inherited it — both of them known for their ornate ironwork. And if you find yourself standing in front of that house today, you can still see it in the detailing.
Two families, two generations of craft, one house built around 1911 still standing to tell the tale. Some things just hold.
What the marker says
This c. 1911 home is associated with two important Austin families. New York native Harvey Murdock Williams, a bookkeeper at Ramsey Nursery, and his wife, Euphemia (Sinclair), built the house. In the early 1940s, it passed to their son, Harvey Sinclair Williams, an educator and baseball coach. In 1947, F. Lee Weigl moved his family here. Weigl, like his father, Fortunat, was a craftsman known for his ornate ironwork, some of which can be seen in the home's detailing. With a bungalow form and symmetrical plan, the home has a three-bay porch and central door flanked by sidelights. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2002