Robinson-Macken House
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built in 1876 for the family of Elizabeth and John Robinson, Sr., this two-and-half-story farm house is fine example of the Second Empire style of architecture coupled with Italianate detailing. Located within the original 1839 Austin town plan draw by Edwin Waller, it is in close proximity to the house built by the locally prominent Bremond family (three blocks east). It shares stylistic similarities with the Bremond house, now preserved as the Bremond Block Historic District. Three of John and Elizabeth Robinson's children married into the Bremond family. The Robinson's son, Eugene, purchased the house from the other Robinson heirs in 1902. Between 1909 and 1912 he had it moved fifty feet north of its original site to make room for another structure. The house was purchased in 1928 by Joe and Bridget Macken, in whose family it remained until 1983. Both John Robinson and Joe Macken were Austin community leaders, serving at different times as chief of the volunteer fire department and city alderman. Prominent features of the l-plan Robinson-Macken house include projecting bay windows with classical detailing, fine milled wood elements, dormer windows, and a mansard roof. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark- 1986 [2nd plaque] Chartered in Itasca in 1904, the Presbyterian Children's Home and Service Agency purchased this property in 1990 for executive offices.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1876 within the original 1839 town plan Edwin Waller drew for Austin, this two-and-a-half-story farmhouse blends the Second Empire style—its signature mansard roof and dormers—with Italianate detailing. The Robinson family who raised it were closely tied to the prominent Bremonds nearby, and both John Robinson and later owner Joe Macken served the young capital as volunteer fire chief and city alderman. Moved fifty feet in the early 1900s and held by the Macken family until 1983, it later became offices for a Presbyterian children's agency.
Why it matters
The house is a well-preserved piece of early Austin's civic and architectural fabric, showing how the leaders of a frontier state capital lived and built as their city came of age.
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Related people
- · John Robinson, Sr.
- · Joe and Bridget Macken
- · Edwin Waller
Themes & tags
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