The Capt. Charles Schreiner Mansion is located in Kerrville

Kerrville, Texas

Kerrville is a city in Kerr County, Texas, United States. The population was 20,425 at the 2000 census. In 2009, the population was 22,826...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Kerr County, Texas in 1975. It was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the state of Texas....

 in 1962. The mansion is currently the home of the Hill Country Museum. In 1984, Mrs. E.C. Parker of the Captain Charles Schreiner Chapter #2462 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy

United Daughters of the Confederacy

The United Daughters of the Confederacy is a women's heritage association dedicated to honoring the memory of those who served in the military and died in service to the Confederate States of America . UDC began as the National Association of the Daughters of the Confederacy, organized in 1894 by...

 was awarded a Jefferson Davis Certificate of Meritorious Service for Preservation and Restoration, in honor of her work in converting the mansion into a museum.

The mansion is now home to the Hill Country Museum, which is operated by Schreiner University

Schreiner University

Schreiner University is a private liberal arts institution located in Kerrville, Texas. The University enrolls an estimated 1,100 undergraduate and graduate students. It offers 27 four-year undergraduate programs, an MBA and a master of education. Its religious affiliation is to the Presbyterian...

..

Design

Texas Ranger and Confederate States Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 veteran Charles Schreiner was descended from French nobility

French nobility

The French nobility was the privileged order of France in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern periods.In the political system of the Estates General, the nobility made up the Second Estate...

. His father Gustav had been born in a castle in Alsace

Alsace

Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

. The Schreiner family moved to San Antonio in 1852. Charles became a wealthy rancher, merchant and philanthropist in Kerrville. Schreiner commissioned San Antonio architect Alfred Giles

Alfred Giles (architect)

Alfred Giles was a British architect who emigrated to Texas in the 19th Century. Many of the private homes and public buildings designed by Giles are on the National Register of Historic Places and have been designated Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks. A number of his designs can be found in San...

 to design the mansion in 1879 and again in 1895 to add a porch. The original six-bedroom, two-story house was the first limestone building in Kerr County

Kerr County, Texas

Kerr County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its population was 49,625. Its county seat is Kerrville. Kerr County was named by Joshua D. Brown for his fellow Kentucky native, James Kerr, a congressman of the Republic of Texas...

. In 1895, Schreiner had Giles add a more elaborate porch. The combined styles of Romanesque Revival

Romanesque Revival architecture

Romanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...

 and Chateauesque

Châteauesque

Châteauesque is one of several terms, including Francis I style, and, in Canada, the Château Style, that refer to a revival architectural style based on the French Renaissance architecture of the monumental French country homes built in the Loire Valley from the late fifteenth century to the...

 were a result in part of the labor force being brought from Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, and pink granite columns imported from Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. In 1927, the Schreiner heirs transferred ownership of the mansion to the Kerrville Masonic Lodge

Masonic Lodge

This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...

, who sold it in 1972 to a private owner.

External links

• Hill Country Museum - official site