DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker for the Robert F. Rowntree House in Llano County tells it like this, and it's a story worth tellin' slow. Robert Flack Rowntree — folks called him Bob — was an early leader in Llano County, born in 1847.
He set out to build something lasting in the Prairie Mountain community, and lasting is exactly what he got. From 1875 to 1888, he raised a majestic two-story house on that land. Thirteen years of building.
You don't put that kind of time into a house unless you mean it. Bob Rowntree meant it. The man he hired to design it was no ordinary builder either.
John K. Finlay was a Scottish architect, a pioneer in the Texas granite industry, and he knew exactly what this country had to offer. He reached for local red-brown sandstone obtained right nearby, and pulled in white limestone from Burnet County for good measure.
The walls he specified came out twenty inches thick. Twenty inches. The kind of walls that say: nothing is getting through here without an argument.
Inside, eight rooms, and every single one of them with its own fireplace. Both floors wrapped in porches looking out over Prairie Mountain and Rough Mountain. You could stand up there on a cool evening and feel like the whole of Llano County was laid out just for you.
Bob Rowntree ran an 8,500-acre ranch from that house, and he lived there with his family. By any measure, the man had built something. And then — July 19, 1893.
His untimely death. The marker doesn't spell it out plain, but it doesn't leave you comfortable either. Some believe his involvement in the Hoodoo War was connected to his death.
The Hoodoo War. The marker drops that name and lets it sit, and sometimes that's the loudest thing a marker can do. After Rowntree was gone, the house passed on.
Ernst and Lucy Marschall — Lucy born a Meusebach — made it their home. Those twenty-inch walls kept standing, the way walls built with that kind of intention tend to do. Prairie Mountain's still out there.
The house is still out there. And somewhere in the weight of that sandstone and limestone, the story of Bob Rowntree is still in the walls.
What the marker says
Early Llano County leader, Robert Flack (Bob) Rowntree (1847-1893), built this majestic two-story house in the Prairie Mountain community from 1875 to 1888. Scottish architect John K. Finlay, a pioneer in the Texas granite industry, designed the home using local red-brown sandstone obtained nearby and white limestone from Burnet County. Built with 20-inch thick walls, the house contains eight rooms, each with a fireplace, and porches on both floors overlooking Prairie Mountain and Rough Mountain. Rowntree lived on his 8500-acre ranch with his family until his untimely death on July 19, 1893. Some believe his involvement in the Hoodoo War was connected to his death. Later, the house became the home of Ernst and Lucy (Meusebach) Marschall. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2016