Lehne-Itz House
Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Henry Lehne (1858-1931) followed the form of traditional German farmhouses in building this limestone structure in 1882. He farmed and ranched an adjoining 30 acres. As a teamster he hauled produce to San Antonio and returned with products such as beer and flour for local merchants. He outlived two wives (Anna Barth and Marie Spaeth) and remained here to rear his nine children. His daughter Sophie and her husband Ernest Itz built a frame addition on the rear of the house in 1933. The house, which remained in the Lehne family for 109 years, was sold by Sophie's heirs in 1991. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1993
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1882 German immigrant Henry Lehne raised this limestone house in the old-country farmhouse tradition brought to the Texas Hill Country by Fredericksburg's German settlers. He farmed and ranched, hauled goods to San Antonio as a teamster, and outlived two wives while raising nine children under its roof. A frame addition built by his daughter and son-in-law in 1933 extended a family occupancy that lasted 109 years.
Why it matters
The house documents the enduring German immigrant culture of the Texas Hill Country, where transplanted building traditions and family farming shaped a distinctive American community.
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Related people
- · Henry Lehne
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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