Shelby, Austin County
Dr. Ernst Witte, educated as a lawyer in Hanover, Germany, prior to immigrating to Texas, purchased 1,422 acres of land in 1856, at the age of 63, and quickly improved the property value, producing cotton and adding this farmhouse around 1860. Witte died in 1869, leaving the property to his widow, Lisette. In 1884, her heirs sold the house to Emilie, grandchild to Ernst and Lisette, and John Schmid, a Swiss settler, where it remained in the Schmid family until 1986. An excellent example of rural vernacular architecture, the house was constructed with stuccoed sandstone, with interior walls of fachwerk and locally-sourced adobe. It includes a center-passage plan, asymmetrical placement of the hall with two summer beams and flat ornamental balusters, common characteristics of homes built by successful German settlers in the area in the mid-19th century. On the exterior, two of the most conspicuous Germanic details are the clipped gables, or schiefergedecktes dach, and the eyebrow windows (removed in the 1960s and restored in 2004), or dachgaube. These features were apparently inspired by Witte’s Home in Kleefeld, near Hanover. Relatively unchanged, the porch was added around 1910 by the Schmid family and the roof replaced in the 1960s and 2004. Overlooking the rolling landscape of Austin County, the Witte-Schmid house stands as a reminder of German immigration in the mid-19th century and its impact on the architectural history of Texas. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2017