Winters-Wimberley House

Built about 1856 or shortly thereafter, the Winters-Wimberley House is one of the oldest extant pioneer dwellings in Hays County and the earliest surviving stone house in the town of Wimberley. In excellent condition following a recent restoration effort, the original two-room house built of hand-cut limestone retains its historic architectural features to an outstanding degree. Built of 18" cut limestone blocks, the side-gabled hall-parlor plan exhibits elements typical of early Texas domestic architecture: it has a symmetrical facade with a central door flanked by matching windows. Historic additions to the rear of the original two-room house reflect the growing size and circumstances of the successive mill-owning families and their descendants who occupied the house until it was sold to the Wimberley Senior Citizens Activities Inc., in 1997. The Winters Wimberley House is nominated to the National Register at the local level of significance under Criterion C as one of the region's best examples of an early frontier stone house.

It is also nominated under Criterion A for its historic associations with the initial settlement of Wimberley, once a fairly isolated Hill Country hamlet of ranchers, millers, and cedar choppers, now a rapidly growing artist's haven, tourist Mecca, and upscale retreat for high-tech industry workers. The builders and pioneer occupants were instrumental in the community's early development and subsequent growth through their service as millers and their contributions to the area's economic, social, and educational well-being. Some of their descendants still live in Hays County where they have played significant roles in preserving the area's cultural and architectural heritage. The Winters-Wimberley House is a significant historic icon and an increasingly rare vestige of Central Texas' frontier heritage in a rapidly developing environment. Located on five acres of the original William C. Winters 37-acre mill site, the house stands near the center of Wimberley, a simple but finely crafted dwelling that reflects both the architectural heritage and lifestyle of the pioneer settlers who settled the Central Texas Hill Country frontier in the mid-19th century.