Reue-Eickenhorst House
Why it's listed
Perched on the crest of Prairie Hill in the Sandy Hill community near Brenham, this one-story L-plan farmhouse was begun in 1915 by Willie and Alma Reue, a German-American farming couple who had profited from strong cotton prices. Willie, a carpenter as well as a farmer, hauled longleaf pine lumber from East Texas by wagon. The frame house rests on brick piers beneath a corrugated metal roof and has six large rooms, 12-foot ceilings, beaded-board walls, wooden windows and jig-sawn trim in a stars-and-stripes pattern. A central hall, the German durchgang, links the front and back porches. The only addition is a bathroom added around 1923. A wooden barn and smokehouse remain on about 11 acres of the original 165-acre tract. The property was listed for its intact representation of early twentieth-century German-American farmsteads in Washington County, in architecture and agriculture. It is now vacant.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is an excellent, largely intact example of rural vernacular architecture built by successful German-American farmers in Washington County in the early 20th century. Together with its acreage and outbuildings, it expresses the traditional design, construction and setting of German-American farmsteads, supporting significance in Architecture and Agriculture at the local level.
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 95000519, listed April 27, 1995. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | FM Hwy. 2621, 0.5 mi. E of jct. with TX 50, Brenham |
|---|---|
| County | Washington County |
| Listed | April 27, 1995 |
| Reference number | 95000519 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1915-1945 |
| Architect / builder | Ziesemer, Herbert (builder) |
| Architectural style | Other: Vernacular L-plan |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Agriculture, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Current function is listed as vacant/not in use; the house is described as largely undisturbed and intact, with only a c. 1923 bathroom added. |
| Acreage | 11.3 |
| Coordinates | 30.25096, -96.35576 (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.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
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 95000519.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q109999819
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.