Buck Winn's home named National Historic District

It truly is a national treasure, the house with a curved wall of glass overlooking a patch of land that used to be a busy airstrip, a kitchen wall with a mural of a western scene, a huge studio/living room where the Pearl Brewing murals were created, those same Pearl murals that are now located in the Wimberley Community Center for all to enjoy.

So who is Buck Winn? James Buchanan Winn can’t be summed up in a couple of paragraphs. Labels such as genius, artist, innovator, adventurer are somewhat overused, but not in his case. He’s left his mark on Wimberley and left it for the better, the yellow translucent cross of Chapel of the Hills. He also helped to start the church. The aforementioned murals and a couple of portraits around town are also his legacy to the town. In San Marcos, Winn is perhaps most known for the towering morning glory statues that he was commissioned to build by the Rogers family for Aquarena Springs Theme Park's sky ride gondola to shade waiting passengers from the hot Texas sun. In 2011, they were airlifted out by helicopter from their concrete bed and replanted in their birthplace, the Winn family ranch.

Now the birthplace of so many of the Southwest's sculptures and paintings, Winn's self-designed house, workshop and the surrounding buildings and airstrip, are nationally recognized as a National Historical District.

The official plaque that designates the home as listed in the National Register of Historic Places now hangs on the building's original limestone walls.

Raised in Celina in North Texas, his parents were well-to-do cotton farmers. He studied art and bummed around in Europe, was a painter and architect and taught graduate courses at the University of Texas, Texas A&M, Princeton and others. An inventor, he holds numerous patents. He also was a private airplane pilot, using the landing strip on the ranch to fly his airplane “Nellie Belle.”

He was a true Renaissance man. Although he died in 1979, he left a big footprint on the valley and his efforts are still being enjoyed to this day.

Winn customized almost every niche and corner of his home like these sculpted ornamentations on the exterior windows.

His daughter, Kathryn Winn Eoff, or “Tinka,” who lives in the historic house, started the effort to have his home designated as a National Historical District and kept the wheels rolling towards historical distinction through an accidental phone call.

“I answered the phone and it was a real estate agent. I get those all the time, and usually hang up, but this time I started to talk and mentioned something about a historical designation for the ranch,” Eoff said. “The real estate agent said ‘that’s what my brother does.’”

She met the brother, Alex Borger, who was instrumental in getting the National Historical Designation. As with any government entity, the higher up the ladder, local to state, state to federal, the documentation increases exponentially.

Attorney Ann Landeros was also hired to get the designation. Together with Borger, the two were able to get the designation in two years, very quick for such an important designation.

The Morning glory statues that once stood at the Aquarena Springs Theme Park now reside on the Four Winns Ranch in Wimberley. Daily Record file photo 

Other buildings and structures were also included. The small house next door, which was built in 1883, is included, as is the workshop behind the home and a few other small structures and the airplane landing strip.

At the dedication of the plaque, people that knew Winn personally passed around a few stories. Local stonemason Bill Bonham, back in the 70s was doing some welding work for Winn and realized he had made a mistake on a circular staircase he was working on. Thinking Winn would be mad, it surprised him when he wasn’t. "Just throw it in the ravine” were the orders “with the other mistakes.” Bonham was amazed at the number of the mistakes, mistakes of all kinds, that were abandoned there.

Eoff’s daughter Lisa grew up in Houston, but would spend summers with her grandparents at the ranch. Her grandparents were her favorite people and she loved watching her grandpa fly and land the airplane “Nellie Belle” right on the landing strip.

But her favorite memory was sitting in the front, under the big oak tree in the front courtyard with both her grandparents relaxing with her. The placement of the house by the tree, was well thought out as it has a nice cool breeze blowing even in 100-degree heat.

There are touches of Buck Winn's whimsy hidden throughout the entire property.

At the unveiling of the plaque, Eoff related the story of receiving the Pennsylvania-made official plaque in the mail and not opening the package for a few days, scared that it had a misprint on it. Luckily it did not, when it was opened a few days later.

The house stands as it did when it was built in circa 1945. Its outside has never been repainted, 79 years of the original paint and it is still holding its original color, just as the rest of the house has retained its charm.

The creativity and joy of Buck Winn as represented in his house will be preserved and luckily it's a history that Hays County can be proud of.