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My home was built in 1878 by William Specht (1851-1940) for his bride Louise Imhoff. It stands on a hill overlooking the Guadalupe River in the Texas Hillcountry. The interior has been restored and the exterior awaits time and money. William and Louise are pictured below in a 1921 photo.
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Wilhelm Ernest von Specht(1851-1940)was the first born of Heinrich Karl Rudolf"Hans"von Specht (1825-1913)
and Frau Lisette Schmidt Specht (1834-1924). Hans Specht born in Braunschweig Germany was an officer in the Huassar Regiment. As a young
man, he took leave and came to Texas in 1844 with Prince Carl Solms. He established a home on the Honey Creek and made his living as a freigher
of lumber from the Curry's Creek Sawmill by ox-wagon to New Braunfels. He met a beautiful Orphan girl at the Waisenhaus in New Wied near Gruene, Miss
Lisette. They married Jan 1853 and William was born that same year, the first of ten children. The Guadalupe River had a major flood in 1869
and their home was lost and they relocated on a hill near Spring Branch. Hans Specht was postmaster from 1875-1906. |
Between freighting Wilhelm became a master carpenter and built several homes in the area.
As a young man he moved from his fathers home to the Pruitt home (pictured bottom of this page). He lived here until his marrage. He became a storekeeper with the purchase of the Spring Branch store in 1897
He loved music and was leader of the Spring Branch Band.
A skilled carpenter, he made beautiful cedar coffins for the departed and was the areas under- taker.
In 1907 he moved his family to Bulverde and purchased the Ferdinand Hanz Red & White Store which became know as “Specht's Store” a popular place to this day. In his last years he built the cedar coffins
for himself and Louise and stored them in the cotton gin next to the store. He died at 86 and she followed him in death within the year.
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The "before and after" of my kitchen is pretty dramatic. The original kitchen had a 1931 facelift that well, was a failure! The kitchen had so much water and termite damage that it was gutted! |
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| OH HEAVENLY DAY! After a year without a bathroom to call my own my new old bath was finished. This is a composit picture of my lovely bathroom now. The lavatory is a old hotel washstand which was very hard to locate. Most washstands were too small for my needs. My wallpaper appears as the background on Molly's page |  |
Across a courtyard from the rock home pictured above is the James Pruitt Home(circa 1853) pictured at right as it appeared when I purchased this property. The original board and batten home was covered with similated brick sheeting in 1903. Removal of this sheeting showed termite damage so the home was stuccoed to match the adjacent smokehouse. The two room home originally had a porch across the front (left side) that was closed in to make a third room in 1903. |
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