Llano County Courthouse

Built in 1893 in Romanesque Revival with Italianate influences architectual style by architect Jacob Larmour & A.O. Watson by contractor J.A. & G.H. Wilson, Sulphur Springs.

In 1892, the firm of Jacob Larmour and A. O. Watson designed the Llano County Courthouse in the Romanesque Revival style. The composition consists of a large rectangular mass with three corner pavilions and a corner tower. The pavilion roofs are pyramidal, but a hipped roof sits over the main section (courtroom) of the building. The layout is based on a traditional plan. Crossing corridors divide the ground floor into four quadrants that contain offices. The large two-story courtroom and four small rooms used by jurors are located on the second floor; on the third level are additional offices. On the exterior, walls of buff-colored brick rise from a granite base and are terminated by a granite corbel table and a metal cornice. Granite is used throughout for both structural and decorative work. The north and south facades are five-part compositions, and the east and west facades are three-part compositions; all have identical entrance pavilions. At each entrance, granite columns with marble capitals and bases flank the doorways and support an entablature that incorporates a frieze decorated with a saw-toothed pattern. A window appears above the entablature, spanned by a Roman arch with a pronounced archivolt flanked by quoins of quarry-faced granite. A gable with a bull's eye window and a decorative coping surmounts this central compositional unit. Double doors provide access to the interiors. On the first and second stories, window openings are paired in each compositional component. Granite lintels and Roman arches with granite voussoirs span these openings. On the third story, window openings in the pavilions are set in arcades with granite arches that are supported by polished granite columns with marble capitals and bases. Conforming to the main masses of the building, the tower was built of brick with granite trim. Granite arches span the wide window openings. This material also was used for the finials. The top sections of the tower, including the level that displays the clocks, were finished with sheet metal components with stamped shingle patterns. Additional embellishments include quoining which has tooled corner margins, a wide string course at the second floor level, and narrow courses girdling the structure at the window sill levels on both the first and second stories. The interior finishes of the courthouse featured plastered walls throughout the structure, and wooden wainscot capped by heavy moldings appeared in the circulation areas and in the courtroom. While the hall wainscot and wooden trim have been painted, the wood finishes throughout the courtroom retain their original natural finish. Acoustical tile with recessed lighting has been installed in the courtroom. The stairways feature ornamental wooden newel posts and balustrade. The treads of the stairs are iron and were manufactured by F. Heierman and Bros., in Austin, Texas.

The courthouse has survived three fires. After one, the bell tower was covered with wooden shingles painted silver.

Current status: Active Courthouse