{"nrhp_refnum":"70000767","name":"Littlefield House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"24th St. and Whitis Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Austin","county":"Travis County","state":"TX","lat":30.27885850000007,"lon":-97.74361457899994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-08-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick residence with raised basement, attic and towers at 24th Street and Whitis Avenue in Austin, Texas, built in 1893 and occupied in 1894 for cattle millionaire Col. George Washington Littlefield. James Wahrenberger of San Antonio was the architect.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the house as an example of Texas Gay Nineties architecture, notable for its late use of Second Empire forms and its lavish custom ornament. It also serves as a reminder of the early University of Texas and of Littlefield, a cattleman, banker and major university benefactor who willed the house to the university.","narrative":"Built in 1893 and occupied in 1894, this two-story house at 24th Street and Whitis Avenue in Austin was designed by San Antonio architect James Wahrenberger for Col. George Washington Littlefield, a Texas cattle millionaire. Dark red-brown brick with red sandstone trim forms its walls, while a curved drawing-room bay, a double veranda, a turret and a three-story entrance tower give it an irregular, varied outline. Patterned slate covers the towers, and Littlefield's initials appear in stone and ironwork. A porte cochere and a matching carriage house stand on the grounds. Littlefield, a former Terry's Texas Rangers officer, built a fortune in cattle, banking and real estate, and later gave more than two million dollars to the University of Texas. He willed the house to the university at his death in 1920. The property is valued as a Gay Nineties landmark showing late Second Empire forms in Texas, and it has been restored for museum-style and office use.","period_of_significance":"1894","architect_builder":"James Wahrenberger of San Antonio","architectural_style":"Second Empire forms (late use), with Renaissance detailing; described as specifically Texan","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition, unaltered and on its original site. The building has been restored, with downstairs rooms furnished in period pieces and the upstairs and carriage house converted to offices. Owned by the University of Texas System.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.082048-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/41/9737/40973741/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/70000767.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000767/b5e16dcbe1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000767/b5e16dcbe1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Littlefield_house_2007.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:Littlefield_house_2007.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973741","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Littlefield_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6652947"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/travis-county/littlefield-house-70000767/"}