Historic King William Area

107 Madison, The Jackson House, 1894 Victorian. This is the B&B at which Tall Husband and I stayed. If you are tall like Tall Husband, do not reserve a second floor room...it's really the attic and Tall Husband has bumps on his head!

431 King William, Edward Steves, Jr. House, 1884

The carriage house behind the Edward Steves, Jr. House; added in 1980

509 King William, Edward Steves, Sr. Homestead, 1876; Style: Victorian French Second Empire. This Home is now owned by the San Antonio Conservation Society and is operated as a house museum.


504 King William, Albert Steves House; 1883


422 King William, Ike West Home, 1887


419 King William, Elias Edmonds House, 1875.


414 King William, Ellis-Meusebach House, 1884


410 King William, Josiah Pancoast Victorian Cottage, 1900


Unidentified Cottage in the King William Area


335 King William, Carl Wilhelm August Groose home, 1880


309 King William, Charles Hummel Home, 1884


226 King William, Ernst Altgelt Home, 1878


Texas Historical Commission's Medallion-a common sight in the King William Area


217 King William, Alexander Sartor, Jr. Home, 1882


208 King William, Louis Bergstrom Home, 1882

209 Washington, Mitchell-Oge House, 1857/1882. You can stay here...it's a B&B!


The Jack Pancoast Cottage


303 King William, Stevens/James House, 1881

A charming Victorian Home at 215 Beauregard

425 King William, George Kalteyer Home, 1892. Style: Richardson Romanesque; designed by architect James Riely Gordon, known for his Texas Courthouses.

401 King William, Norton/Polk/Mathis House, 1876. Italianate Victorian. This house is also known as Villa Finale, the first National Trust Historic Site in Texas. It is scheduled to be open to the public in November 2009.

If you are a fan of old ironwork, as we are, the King William Area will not disappoint you.

What's better than an old Victorian? Your own tiny Victorian playhouse in the back garden!

As promised, here are some of the wonderful old homes in the historic King William Area of San Antonio, Texas. This beautiful neighborhood is protected by national, state and city historic designations.

San Antonio is the most historic city in Texas and boasts a beautiful area of historic homes, the King William Area. Tall Husband and I, wanting to experience the history of this beautiful neighborhood, stayed in the historic Jackson House, a charming Victorian B&B on Madison Street.

Development of what is now the King William Area was begun in the 1850's on land that was originally farmland owned by the Mission San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo). The majority of families who built their fine home here were German immigrants, thus the main street and later the area was named for Kaiser Wilhelm I of Prussia. In 1968 the King William Historic District was created as the first historic district in Texas.

To enjoy a walking tour of the King William Area, I suggest that you use King William Area-a Walking Tour, a brochure from the San Antonio Conservation Society.

So, enjoy these photos of some of King William Area's historic homes, as Tall Husband and I braved three-digit (Fahrenheit) Texas heat to shoot them.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Walk on the Weird Side

Weird: A strolling Black Bird was seen on South Congress Avenue in Austin's SoCo District.

You can spot signs and posters around Houston with the imperative, "Keep Austin Weird." Are the signs and posters warnings, or for recruitment of weird people?  I guess Austinites just like to think of themselves and their town as weird. Well, Tall Husband and I went to check it out. Here's what we discovered on a recent trip to Austin's SoCo District.

The patio at Hotel San Jose... looks pretty non-weird to us; however, these people are probably visitors from out of town.  So let's move on:

Jo's next door to Hotel San Jose is starting to look weird...is that Grandma Death out front there? (When my pillow decides that my hair needs to stand up and look wild, Tall Husband says, "Well, good morning, Grandma Death, " referring to a character in the psychothriller, Donnie Darko.)

At Luther's we found unique (translation: wild and weird) clothing for men and women and unique store props, like this car engine in the window, which Tall Husband immediately identified as a vintage Buick engine, then started talking cars with Luther's owner, Cory Moore who, as it turns out, owns a speed shop. Tall Husband, you're getting weird; how else would you have known all that stuff about old engines?

Blackmail, a boutique that sells black and more black, is definitely wonderfully weird. Uh-oh, I'm starting to think I would look good in that black leather strappy thing, playing that vintage Stratocaster...sort of Grandma Death goes heavy metal.

Crepes Mille

Crepes out of an Airstream...is that weird?

We ate here at Guero's Taco Bar and had great Tex Mex food and got in some people watching and we did see some weird ones there.

Kimber Modern, a boutique hotel is uber chic and modern. Not weird...until your spot that little silver trailer attached to their mailbox. Are they selling crepes too? Weird!

A wonderful bungalow in the Travis Heights neighborhood, just off Congress Avenue. My bunnies could be happy here. There is nothing weird here, except there isn't a bunny in sight.

Hotel Saint Cecilia is also in the SoCo area. Ditto: nothing weird here...

...until you see that albino peacock staring at you from the bar (and why do his feathers look like my hair?)

O.K. guys, you're weird. But Tall Husband and I love walking on the weird side with you!

Note: If you want to check out Austin's SoCo area for yourself, the first Thursday of each month is a good time to do so; just go to www.FirstThursday.info for details.

San José...Do You Know the Way?

Don't you just love the simplicity of a single, fresh flower in a water glass?

We were in room 20 at Hotel San José in Austin.

Cleaver, cleaver!

Their continental breakfast in a box.

The rooms are minimalist...pure and simple.

Last week when Tall Husband and I were in Austin, Texas to cover a design event, we stayed at Hotel San José. This famous hotel is in the popular SoCo (South Congress) district with lots of nearby funky shops and great places to eat. We loved their continental breakfast in a box and the wonderful landscaping by designer Mark Word. See Mark's landscape design for Hotel San José at My Ranchburger blog.

Antiques Shopping: Chappell Hill Style

From the tiny Coach House, where Tall Husband and I whiled away a rainy Texas weekend, we could stand on the front porch and see this...

...the welcoming back entrance to a most wonderful antiques shop, Evans Antiques in Chappell Hill, Texas. If there is anything that Tall Husband and I excel at, it's shopping. And we especially love shopping for antiques.

Eileen Evans has made a little antique heaven right in the Texas hill country. As I was shooting, I realized that Eileen's visual formula is to let each doorway frame the large view; then within in that view are precious vignettes.


You just know that this white hare was destined to come live at The Bunny Bungalow!


As you click on photos to enlarge, look at the lighting in each room. Eileen stocks wonderful lighting fixtures and those small bulbs that you won't find elsewhere: they really look like candle flames.

Isn't that child's old red, wooden wagon wonderful?

This is a great hutch, filled with crockery.

Note the great hand-painted floor cloths on all the floors. Also, that American Windsor reproduction chair is beautiful and looks authentic. As you know, if you have antiques, reproduction chairs are best, as antique dining chairs are the most overworked pieces of furniture and don't always pass the years well.

Isn't the "halo" around that primitive angel magic? It's an artifact of the lighting but are you ready for some real magic? See that door to the left, under the old sign that reads, "Fine Lodging"? That's part of the Stagecoach Inn B&B, actually the entire shop is. You can sleep in the Antiques Shop after closing time! You have the entire place to yourself and you can shop all night in your nightgown or your birthday suit if you prefer. Eileen has your credit card number, so you just jot down items you've purchased and take them with you. We're staying there next trip to Chappell Hill. Talk about shop till you drop!

Note: Sunday morning we met the charming couple who had spent the night in the antiques shop. The wife showed us her long list of purchases. She was one happy woman!

Evans Antiques at the Stagecoach Inn, Chappell Hill, Texas