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The history of the Dewees Remschel House, part III
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Disclaimer:
The author of this entry is responsible for this content, which is not edited by the Wilson County News or wilsoncountynews.com. |
July 27, 2010 | 1888 views | 1 comment
This is part III of a multi-part history of the Dewees Remschel House.
After the death of Dr. Robert Taggert Knox in 1898, his wife sold the house in Gonzales, which later became known as the Dewees Remschel House.
Through the years, several families have owned the property, and in its later days in Gonzales, the porches were enclosed and the home was divided into several separate rental units. In 1983, the property was purchased by the H-E-B grocery chain.
Claribel Dewees Remschel, a descendant of the Knox family, expressed an interest in the building structure. H-E-B offered the house to her if it would be moved off the lots at no cost to H-E-B. The Gonzales Historical Commission also expressed an interest in the house to preserve it in Gonzales, but H-E-B agreed to give it to them, only if Claribel did not accept it.
In the fall of 1983, Claribel Dewees Remschel contracted with Wood House Moving Co. of San Antonio to move the house to her ranch in Wilson County at a cost of $22,000. The size of the structure was such that it could not be moved as one piece. The upper story of the house had to be demolished, with the material being salvaged and stored on top of the two first-floor sections. The demolition work was performed by Joe Matejcek Construction Co. of Gonzales for a sum of $10,500.
The remaining first floor was divided into two sections for moving to the ranch site. At the ranch site, the first floor was reassembled and set on concrete piers. Reconstruction of the second story was performed by a local contractor.
Reconstruction work had not been completed at the time of Claribel Dewees Remschel’s death in 1996, even though the house was livable and it served as her residence on the ranch.
Using funds from the estate, the trustees retained architects Kell-Munoz-Wigodsky of San Antonio. They asked them to prepare the drawings and construction documents to complete the restoration of the house. Randy Hohlaus was approved as the principal architect in charge of the project.
The contract for the construction work was awarded to Guido Construction Co. of San Antonio at the cost of $250,000.
The work was completed in September 1997, and the transfer of title to Wilson County and the Wilson County Historical Society was accomplished in January of 1998.
Compiled by Gene Maeckel from information in the files of the Wilson County Historical Commission Archives, P.O. Box 101, Floresville, TX 78114. Web site: http://www.wilsoncountyhistory.com . |
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Ken Semlinger
Poth, TX
July 30, 2010 12:39pm
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