Porter, Katherine Anne, House
Why it's listed
Built between about 1886 and 1890 in the railroad town of Kyle, Texas, this one-story wood-frame house on West Center Street is an L-plan dwelling with weatherboard siding, a shed-roof front porch with chamfered posts, and intersecting hipped roofs that set it apart from other L-plan houses in the area. A limestone mounting stone beside the house survives from the earliest period. The property matters chiefly for its link to author Katherine Anne Porter, who came here with her family in 1892 to live with her grandmother and stayed until 1902. Her years in the house, though often unhappy, supplied settings for stories such as The Fig Tree, Old Mortality and The Old Order. Porter later won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for her Collected Stories. The house has seen little alteration, has been restored, and is now one of Kyle's few surviving early homes. A modern seminar building and a doll house on the lot do not contribute to its historic character.
Significance in brief: The house is nominated under Criterion B as the childhood home of author Katherine Anne Porter, who lived there from 1892 to 1902 and set several of her best short stories in Kyle and this house. It is also nominated under Criterion C as a rare, little-altered example of an early vernacular L-plan house in Kyle, distinguished by its intersecting hipped roofs. The form argues for national significance.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 04000893, listed August 20, 2004. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 508 W. Center St., Kyle |
|---|---|
| County | Hays County |
| Listed | August 20, 2004 |
| Reference number | 04000893 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1890-1902 |
| Architect / builder | unknown |
| Architectural style | Other: L-plan |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Literature, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as in excellent condition after extensive repair and restoration; used as a single dwelling and as a meeting hall, with a seminar building used for literary seminars and community meetings. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 29.98944, -97.87985 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 04000893.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6376292
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.