{"nrhp_refnum":"69000213","name":"French Legation","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"802 San Marcos St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Austin","county":"Travis County","state":"TX","lat":30.267016741000077,"lon":-97.73201883299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1969-11-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small wood-frame building at 802 San Marcos in Austin, Texas, built between December 1840 and April 1842 as the residence and legation of French diplomat Alphonse de Saligny, on a hill site in East Austin.","why_significant":"It was the home and diplomatic post of France's chargé d'affaires to the Republic of Texas. The nomination ties it to the Franco-Texienne bill, a proposed loan-for-land scheme that would have made Texas nearly a French colony, and to Saligny's feud with neighbor Richard Bullock. It also survives as a restored 19th-century structure.","narrative":"Built between late 1840 and early 1842 on a twenty-one acre hill in East Austin, this small square wood-frame house served as the French Legation to the Republic of Texas. Alphonse de Saligny, France's chargé d'affaires, had it constructed after first operating from Richard Bullock's hotel. The house originally held four rooms, an attic, a cellar and a porch, and Saligny brought door locks and hinges from France. Its history is linked to the Franco-Texienne bill, a plan for France to lend Texas seven million dollars in exchange for three million acres of land, and to a feud over pigs and corn that contributed to his recall. Later owners added a rear wing around 1880. The State of Texas bought the property in 1945, and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas removed the additions, restored the house and kitchen, and operate it as a museum. It became a Texas historic landmark in 1967.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":"Built for Alphonse de Saligny; no architect or builder is named","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in excellent condition, unoccupied, restored by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas between 1945 and 1954 and maintained by them as a museum open to the public.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.257166-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/49/9737/40973749/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/69000213.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000213/2efd68f3e7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000213/2efd68f3e7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:French_legation_2011.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:French_legation_2011.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973749","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Legation,_Texas","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5501826"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/travis-county/french-legation-69000213/"}