The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation in the United States.
Each year about 30,000 properties are added to the more than one million on the National Register.
Here are 10 beautiful Victorian homes in the great state of Texas that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
1
Carl Wilhelm August Groos House, San Antonio
The Carl Wilhelm August Groos House is a limestone Victorian Gothic revival buildingin the King William Historic District of San Antonio, Texas.
Immigrating from Germany to Texas in 1848, Groos and his brothers started a freighting firm and developed an associated banking business.
After the civil war, the banking business flourished, and in 1879 Groos became president of the first building in San Antonio dedicated to banking.
2
F. W. Schuerenberg House, Brenham
Built in 1895 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990, the house is considered a classic example of Victorian architecture.
The son of an early German immigrant, Frederick William Schuerenberg was a local businessman who owned a blacksmith shop in Brenham.
3
John Bremond, Jr. House, Austin
Constructed between 1850 and 1910, the Bremond Block Historic District is a collection of eleven historic homes in downtown Austin, Texas.
One of the few remaining upper-class Victorian neighborhoods of the middle to late nineteenth century in Texas, the block was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
Prominent in late-nineteenth-century Austin social, merchandising, and banking circles, six of the houses were built for family members of brothers Eugene and John Bremond.
4
George W. Fulton Mansion, Fulton
The George W. Fulton mansion is one of the earliest Second Empire buildings in the Southwest United States.
Colonel George Ware Fulton and Harriet Gillette Smith built the 4 story structure in 1877 and called it “Oakhurst”.
It featured the most up-to-date conveniences for the time, including indoor plumbing, gas lighting, central heating, and built-in copper tubs in two of the bedrooms.
5
Pollock-Capps House, Tarrant County
Located atop a bluff overlooking the Trinity River, this Queen Anne Victorian home was named after Joseph Robert Pollock, a physician who moved to Fort Worth in 1887.
Built of red brick and limestone, the house has a slate roof and an octagonal tower on its northeast corner.
6
Hoopes-Smith House, Rockport
Built between 1890 and 1892 in Rockport, Texas, the Queen Anne Style late Victorian was named after James M. Hoopes (1839–1931), a prominent local businessman and land developer.
Serving as a boarding house between 1894 and 1930, the house was sold to T. Noah Smith, Sr. (1888–1955), abusinessman in oil and shipbuilding.
The house was designated a Texas Historic Landmark in 1989, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, and is currently a bed and breakfast.
7
Littlefield House, Austin
Situated on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, this late Victorian home was built in 1893 for Civil War veteran George Littlefield, a successful businessman in the banking and cattle trades.
Major Littlefield and his wife Alice bequeathed the house to the university, which is used as office and function space today.
Littlefield House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
8
H. P. Luckett House, Bastrop
Built around 1892, this14-roomQueen Anne style house was named afterDr. H.P. Luckett, a prominent citizen of Bastrop who had practiced medicine there for almost 50 years.
The home cost $14,000 (about $370,000 today) to build and featured carved doors and millwork shipped by rail from Houston.
The structure was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1978, and designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 2011.
9
Norton-Polk-Mathis House, San Antonio
A contributing property to the King William Historic District, the Norton-Polk-Mathis house is named after three former owners.
Construction began in 1876 by local merchant Russel C. Norton, who later remodeled, adding a second story, a Victorian Gingerbread rear Gallery, and an Italian Renaissance Revival Tower.
Later owners were rancher Edwin Polk and business leader Walter N. Mathis, who restored the mansion in 1968 after a long period as a boarding house.
The house was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1971 and is now a museum managed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
10
W. H. Stark House, Orange
In 1894, William Henry and Miriam Lutcher Stark moved into their new 14,000-square-foot Victorian home.
The long sloping roofs, second-floor balconies, Jacobean chimneys, wide verandas, and octagonal towers are typical of the beautiful Queen Anne style.
Making his fortune inbanking, oil, rice, insurance, and the regional timber industry, Wiliam Henry Stark and his wife built aphilanthropic dynasty that still benefits Orange today.
When W.H. and Miriam Stark died in 1936, their sonLutcher Stark closed the house. It was vacant until 1970 when a 10-year restoration project began.
The house was opened to the public in 1981.
Other examples of historic Victorian homes in Texas
