Plehwe Complex

Three small buildings on wooded, gently sloping land west of Leon Springs, Texas, make up this mid-19th-century homestead: two modest residences and a detached kitchen. Charles Felix George von Plehwe, a Prussian immigrant born in Berlin in 1823, built them after emigrating with his wife Sophie in 1851 and buying 1,000 acres nearby. The structures combine hewn logs, timber framing and rough limestone, reflecting central Texas vernacular building. The one-and-a-half-story stone house believed to be Sophie's resembles the Sunday houses common around Fredericksburg. Soon after completion, Plehwe contracted with the stage line between El Paso and San Antonio to use the farm as a coach stop for water and fresh horses, with weekly service heading west. Later owners made changes, including metal roofs, a steel stair, and twentieth-century additions, yet the original forms remain readable. The kitchen's hearth and chimney survive, though its logs have suffered from lost stucco. The group was listed for its surviving homestead character and local significance.