Brizendine House
Why it's listed
Built of natural, hand-cut limestone, this modest two-story house at 507 West 11th Street in Austin was constructed by John Brizendine, who worked as a miller, carpenter and machinist and appeared in the city's first directory in 1872. The house is one room deep, with a low hipped standing-seam tin roof, a stone chimney, bracketed eaves and six-over-six windows under segmental stone lintels. Two central entrance doors make it look like a double residence, though its plan shows it was always a single-family home. Later occupants included a furniture company owner and the Gordon family, who held it through 1972 and added a wooden art studio that has since been removed. Travis County bought the property and in 1973 planned to demolish it for parking. Citizens and the Travis County Historical Committee persuaded the commissioners to keep it. The house is valued as a rare surviving workingman's home, and after restoration it was leased for law offices.
Significance in brief: The house is significant for its simplicity and modesty as a surviving example of the early 'workingman's homes' in Austin, in contrast to nearby large mansions. It represents a fast-disappearing type of unadorned mid-19th-century house once common near the capitol area. Its preservation also followed a 1973 citizen effort that stopped a county plan to demolish it.
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 74002090, listed July 22, 1974. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 507 W. 11th St., Austin |
|---|---|
| County | Travis County |
| Listed | July 22, 1974 |
| Reference number | 74002090 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 19th Century |
| Architect / builder | John Brizendine |
| Architectural style | Vernacular limestone house |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as in good condition and altered; a later frame addition was removed. Restored for office use by the Travis County Bar Association under lease from the county. |
| Acreage | 0.1 |
| Within district | West Downtown Austin Historic District |
| Coordinates | 30.27392, -97.74648 (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 74002090.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4971745
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.