Step across the threshold into Bastrop’s remarkable past and into some of its most remarkable structures. It’s an event the locals happily anticipate all year – the Bastrop County Historical Society Holiday Homes Tour. Each year the Society selects homes and/or churches to not only display their beauty, but to tell the story about the people who once lived there.
This year is no exception! You’re sure to be filled with good cheer as well as inspired after browsing through some of Bastrop’s finest historic homes. Four historical homes and a noted local church highlight this year’s tour December 9 from noon to 5 p.m.
The Fehr-Haynie-Allbright Home, a 1935 Tudor cottage, was designed by celebrated architect Arthur Fehr at the same time he was designing the Civilian Conservation Corps structures at Bastrop State Park. Its original owners, T.P. Haynie and his wife Tillye, sold the house after WWII to William Ireland Allbright. Both Haynie and Allbright owned the local Chevrolet dealership at different times.
The Penzell-Tuck Home melds two historic structures with new construction into an elegant farm-style residence. The front part of the house is believed to have been a former building from Camp Swift, six miles north of Bastrop.
The Richard Starcke House was built around 1913 by Starcke and his wife, Mary Antonia. The clapboard home is a modified “American Foursquare” design that reflects the transition from Victorian themes to the more “modern” Craftsman and Prairie styles of architecture.
The Prokop Home, constructed by Emil and Helen Prokop was built around 1918, on property inherited from Emil’s Austrian immigrant parents. The single-story bungalow’s current owners have recently removed the sheetrock in several of the rooms to expose the shiplap, remodeled the kitchen, enlarged the bathroom and added a nursery.
The Calvary Episcopal Church, the first building in the county to receive a Texas State Historical Building Medallion, was built in 1881-1883 in the Gothic Revival style. With flying buttresses and campanile design, it was the work of preeminent Texas architect Jasper N. Preston, who also designed the Bastrop County Courthouse and Austin’s Driskill Hotel.
Advance ticket sales begin Nov. 1. Online tickets may be purchased through Dec. 5 at www.BastropHolidayHomesTour.com, by U.S. mail, or by calling the Bastrop Museum & Visitor Center at 512-303-0057 or 512-303-0904. Admission is $20 per person. Accompanied children under 12 are admitted free. On the day of the tour, tickets may be purchased at the Museum & Visitor Center at 904 Main Street or any of the tour sites. Proceeds from the tour fund the operation of the Museum and Visitor Center.