Picture a time long ago. It’s 1895 in Austin. Here stands the Robert S. Stanley House.
The Robert S. Stanley House tells the story of an African-American stonemason. Robert S. Stanley was born in Travis County in 1863. He built this house for his wife Francis and their children.
Stanley was an industrious man. He was a laborer and quarryman. He involved friends and family in the house’s construction. In 1927 Stanley built a stone building on West Mary Street. His second wife Jennie operated it as a general store.
The Robert S. Stanley House is a front-gabled vernacular house. It showcases Stanley’s craftsmanship. The house features rusticated load-bearing limestone construction. It also has a two-foot thick stone half-basement. Longleaf pine frames the floors.
The Stanley family owned this house for over a century. Robert Stanley is buried at Austin’s Evergreen Cemetery.
Records show Stanley’s artistry. They reveal care in the house’s style. The Robert S. Stanley House is a unique piece of history. It stands at the corner of West Mary and Newton.
Materials used include cream cordovia limestone. Longleaf pine makes up the flooring. Interior trim is tung oiled longleaf pine. A four-foot wide central staircase leads to the top floor. The house has a classic Texas vernacular stone construction. A balloon frame internal structure rests on a perimeter wall. This wall is two feet thick.
Note the tombstone found on the property. It reads EMMA BRUCE. The lettering style matches stone markings on the building at 200 West Mary. Stanley even produced stone tombstones for sale.
The Robert S. Stanley House received recognition in 2001. It became a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. The Robert S. Stanley House stands as a testament to Stanley’s legacy. It reflects his contributions to Austin. It honors his family’s history.