The Rohrbach House is located northwest of Castroville, in Medina County Texas. Building at least a Log Cabin was a homestead requirement. And it appears that DOM Rohrbach did that and more. His original homestead has the quarry used to make his eventual 4-room home he built in about 1852.
It is likely the home was built a room at a time, giving a building an exact date when on or two rooms were built each year is difficult. Markings on the building stones show the progression of building. They were “read” by the stone mason Baltazar Espinosa. Logically the first room had a fireplace and a small front porch. A high pitch roofline was for the snow… that rarely occurred in Texas, but was the seasonal norm in Alcase. The vaulted area and a few boards made for a very flexible use of the whole home volume. The next room extended the first and was a larger room Larger stones as well. Confidence had grown that the homestead would work out to make such a large investment in time and materials. The last rooms were the southerly and included another fireplace.
Here is a virtual tour of the recent 2019-current restoration effort highlighting the architecture of a stone building.
When someone asks “Hey, when are you going to be done”, you have just spotted someone that has never done a historic restoration project. I usually reply that a better question would be “Hey, can you tell me about the surprises you found in your old house?”
Cistern (under restoration) originally built by Alsatian Immigrants in 1844 – Medina County Texas
1844
The Alsatians in 1844 knew the importance of water and used their knowledge to insure that they could survive and thrive in Medina County Texas. They arrived for the promise of land and freedom. They had to survive, build a cabin and farm for 3 years to get title to the 160 acre homestead.
An immediate need was water, and in increasing amounts the more they developed, grew crops, and their families. The immediate technology was surface water in the form of springs and small ponds. They called surface water “the source”, or “die quelle”. These natural springs were running when Henri Castro brought them into Galveston, past the Alamo in San Antonio and ultimately modern day Castroville along the Medina River.
No source of information can be found about the water technology strategies of the Alsatians. Even though the events leading to Texas Statehood are well known, the exact details of survival by homesteaders with respect to water is not. Other more colorful texts about Indians dominate the written record. The author surmises much about the strategy of water. Refurbishing water features on two homesteads is inspiring.
Clearly surface water was the most readily available and easiest to put to use. But the endeavor of building a Cistern was not a task for the first day on the homestead.
Cistern Technology & Strategy
There are many skills required to build a stone, underground Cistern. Masonry skills were needed with great certainty to place the stones. The use of Lime Mortar and possibly clay as a sealant to form the Cistern walls and floor. Once completed the Cistern on our farm is nearly 20 feet deep. Several ladders and equivalent structures to modern-day scaffolding were required to build a deep tank. Add woodworking skills to the list. All of the fasteners we have found in existing structures were either round wooden pegs from carpenter’s or square nails made by a blacksmith.
Getting the water to surface once finished also required a pulley system and ropes. These structures were either built on top of the well walls or around the walls to enable a bucket to be lowered and water lifted. It was likely a continuation of the system used during construction for dirt removal, stone and mortar delivery.
Stone homes, and skilled masons existed, and probably hardware and fasteners could be found in San Antonio. But these skills had to be allocated between housing, water works and the likelihood that the venture would succeed. It is known that the typical 4-room Alsatian stone homes were often built one room at a time and likely one room per year. Even this progression is not well documented. Family growth probably dictated the housing needs more than anything. Where the Cistern fits into the timing is not well known for our homestead, usually you are lucky to have a dated cornerstone on a home.
Cistern Construction
But when it became time to build it, the task was not a small one. Here are some numbers for us to work with from our Cistern.
Below Ground 0 – 2′ deep 16″ thick limestone walls – large and medium blocks. 2 – 10′ deep 12-16″ thick walls – medium and smaller blocks, Inlet piping typically included at this elevation. 10-20′ deep 10-12″ thick walls – smaller blocks The diameter of the cistern is fairly consistent with the surface diameter regardless of depth.
Cistern Restoration Summer 2022 – Note pipe on the far right for roof water
Maximum Practical Volume (Water level available 18′) 6,700 Gallons -or- 25,600 Liters
Construction Time Estimate- Manual– 3 people Above Ground Wall – 3 days Digging – 3″ per day (about 1 yard per day of dirt removal) 80-days Rocking – 6″ per day 40- days Lining – 4′ per day 5 days Overall 128 days
Does not include time to quarry stone, transport slurry materials, removal of dirt and cuttings from the site. The homestead had many other chores, and this was just one of them.
The results
Today the average family household uses 300 gallons per day. But without all of our modern conveniences allowing so many luxurious water uses, a rural Alsatian family might get by on much less, say 50 or 100 gallons per day. That is a lot of bucket hoisting from the Cistern and still possibly high. The Cistern would last over 120 days without rain for the minimum use case. A pretty good safety net.
The average F-150 pickup can only carry 1/2 yard of material. It would take 160 truck loads to remove the uncompacted dirt from the construction.
Getting utilities through the wall of any stone building after the fact usually means somebody missed something on the plans. There are a lot of new and old homes with holes in stone walls for electrical service between rooms, gas lines, water lines, cable TV lines, ethernet wires, drains and more. But without some way to seal and make the void structural, there can be consequences. When it is a restoration project on a home that is over 150 years old you just have to make it work. Live long enough and you get two shots at it.
The first time
The results of the 70’s upgrade Cracks in the wall, moisture and bugs entering the home
In 1850, there was probably an out-house and this small room was a bedroom or work room. But as time went by, the back room was converted to a bathroom. In the 70’s a tunnel was dug under this wall by hand and the drains and pipes were inserted and the soil neatly compacted. A good concrete and tile floor and, for the first year or so things were looking good. The experience of living in this home proved the upgrade to be a good idea, convenient, modern, but in the long run problematic.
First, there were tiny cracks from the floor up to the window above the earthen tunnel, and this allowed bugs to enter the home. Next the cracks continued to enlarge and the window stopped working well. The cracks also allowed moisture to get under the floor and then tiles started to loosen. Thankfully, nothing leaked or shorted. This was not a quick failure, it was more like a 25-year slowly worsening type of situation. Good skilled craftspeople can spot this type of rookie mistake a mile away. Our stonemason knew why it all happened in the first place.
The test
Stainless Steel Structural Pass-Through Box Wall is 18″ thick
It was going to happen. As we restored and refurbished, certainly more issues were going to arise. And this is one of those first tests. The stonemason, the architect, and several others all gathered around to give the news. After a while, you can start to read the situation before the conversation starts. The non-normal “Hello”, workers deciding to go dig somewhere else when you arrive, everyone wondering what will happen. The experience of the team really did shine on that hot 104°F Texas day. They were cautiously relaxed, and had several solutions. Veteran problem solvers keep projects moving. There was the drill-holes-in-the-wall solution – no way, the good people at the Conservation Society would never approve. There was the unserviceable, put-all-the-pipes in a ditch and just pour extra cement – no way.
Then there was the most difficult and time consuming solution that sounded like it would last another 150 years. But there were many steps. Draw a structurally sound box, find the materials and a code welder to make it, grout it under the wall, repoint the wall inside and outside, refurbish the window sash, and then you can resume. It had to be the pass-through box solution. I helped dig the trench in 1970 and was not going to make that mistake again.
Pass-Through box with drain lines installedNo cracks, progress can continue
Those little details
When done correctly, all those little details are not seen. This may be the only record of the effort. There are many more details where modern ideas are good enough to be included in a home that is worth the effort.
Cypress Trees along the banks of the Medina River (Spring 2022)
In March of 1991, Ron Pucek drilled a water well for a Catfish farm that could produce vast quantities of water. This Bexar County Texas well has an interesting history of its own. A few years later in 1993, the Texas Legislature created the Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA). Right now in July of 2022, there is a drought and temperatures are pushing past 100 degrees Fahrenheit daily. Those three significant events are not what this story is about.
The history of Alsatians and water started before Texas statehood in 1845. Henri Castro brought the immigrants to San Antonio and then finally to Castroville, a long journey from Alcase. This occurred as early as 1840. The Medina river was comforting and reminded them of the Rhine from their European homeland. Flowing water surrounded by fertile land just waiting to be cleared and farmed. It was the dream they were promised.
But to achieve this dream, there was the everyday challenge of survival from heat, cold, indians, mexicans, snakes, and every last thorny bush and insect. The simple next steps for farming included water, landclearing, and all the labor to cultivate, plant, nurture and harvest. The brush for a future crop with downhill from a water source – the combinations had to be correct. Imagine how daunting it must have felt when all you have is a shovel. A single acre is huge forming a square that is 208+ feet on each side. Next time you see a college football game the field is 1.32 Acres. Imagine preparing the rows needed to plant the field in corn.
The political promise was Freedom, Land, and to most any question posed to Castro or any Texas official was, YES! Yes, please immigrate, Yes, the land is free conditionally, Yes… The reality however was immensely difficult.
The shovel, oxen, and hard work. No water pumps, no electricity, no labor sources. From a technology standpoint it would take until 1895 for Rudolf Deisel to invent the engine that would power all modern farming to this day. Rudolf was born in France in 1858. Technology would make a huge leap forward during the Industrial Revolution, but it was decades in the future from 1840. Air Conditioning was first installed by Carrier in 1902 for industrial purposes.
The odds of success were low. Survive and thrive for three years in order to homestead 160 Acres. It did come with some other requirements such as building a cabin, and farming acreage. Regardless of the obstacles and requirements, the Alsatians loved the opportunity as they came with more than a shovel and some dishes even though nothing really fundamental helpful appeared on the horizon that could help, except….
They had knowledge of springs and tributaries that would end up in the Medina. They surveyed land by-eye and by walking the low areas. Observations of large trees, green grass patches, and other signs pointed the way. Once they found promising springs they staked their homestead accordingly. Those that came early got the land next to the Medina, others had to find it elsewhere in this manner.
They were all looking for a source of surface water that could be re-routed to rows where they could grow the most basic of crops. Basic survival staples. A larger than average garden and extra grain from corn and wheat. Cotton that could be spun into useful rope and basic clothing. It was “not nothing”, it was the stepping stone technology.
These sources, or as an Alsatian would say “Die Quelle” (The Source) allowed perienneil springs to run down hand dug gravity fed ditches to irrigate their first rows of crops. This gave them a valuable season of time to make the more difficult waterworks such as a cistern or stone-lined well.
A relic 1850, stone-lined Cistern with years of fill. (Recently uncovered and to be restored July 2022)
The land did have redeeming natural qualities. Native Oaks and Cypress trees for construction, Caliche and Limestone outcrops for building materials, native Ornamental Persimmons and Mustang Grapes, plus Deer and wild boar.
Texas Native Ornamental Persimmon-Spring 2017
Today’s problems are still related to water, land use, and the methods we use to obtain food and shelter. The prime mover has shifted from an individual doing hard work to governments using high tech machines of all types. Conservation, efficiency, and that next technology are all quietly in use and will be pressed hard to make the next future happen. The Alsatians settled a hostile land and their determination deserves much credit. Get back to basics, turn off the news, grow a garden instead of grass, thank your local farmer and pray for rain!
In the fall of 1852 four Frenchmen arrived in frontier San Antonio in the newly formed State of Texas. They were brothers of the Catholic Society of Mary and their mission was to build a new school. John Baptist Laignoux, Nicholas Koenix, Xavier Mauclerc and Andrew Edel commenced with a limestone building approximately 60 by 80 feet on College street in what is now downtown San Antonio along the Riverwalk. The original name of the school was St. Mary’s Institute. Shortly after on March 1, 1853 the bells tolled and school started.
The origin of the builders, the scale of the building and it’s historic nature are all interesting as they are occuring at the same time as the Alsatian Homesteads spearheaded by Henri Castro in nearby Castroville west of San Antonio.
In December 1854, two more joined the faculty and one in particular Brother Charles Francis ended up with the title of The Great Builder. He devoted the next 54 years of his life to the construction of the European style complex. Fueled by cornbread and riverwater as their main water source. Milk, cheese and butter came from the Brothers Livestock housed at the nearby Mission Concepcion.
The timing, scale and duration of Brother Francis work makes one wonder if the stone masons, and other workers were known to the Alsatian immigrants. Certainly there was a shared religious connection.
Of note are other large limestone buildings such as the St. Dominic Church in D’Hanis Texas where construction began in 1853, and then the St. Louis Catholic Church in Castroville from 1868-1870. Both are within the 54 year construction window of St. Mary’s which was completed in 1875 as the largest building complex in San Antonio.
Today the location of St. Mary’s is bounded by the Riverwalk, St. Mary’s Street, College Street, and Navarro Street. But possibly best viewed from Crockett street or river elevation from across the river to see the longest continuous stretch of the building.
The work of Brother Francis
There are many historic attractions to see in San Antonio, but few that give credit to one person whose work was devoted to the building of such an important and impressive structure. Brother Francis and his crew lifted the limestone blocks, placed the mortar, plastered the walls, and built to accommodate the growing college and their mission of education.
In the mid 60’s the exterior was changed to a Spanish style and a six-story addition was added (far-right in the photo above). The building was converted to the La Mansión del Rio hotel along the way, yet the experience of the rooms(dorm rooms), courtyards(sports areas), and lecture halls(conference rooms) is very evident. Knowing this history a stay at the hotel allows one a pleasant reflection on college life along the Riverwalk within the masterpiece built by Brother Francis.
The building was appropriately recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1969.
The Texas State Historical Survey Committee recognized Saint Dominic Catholic Church and Cemetery in 1972. The remains/ruins of the church can be seen in D’Hanis Texas 55 miles West of San Antonio just off Highway 90. Located in the Castro Colony of D’Hanis the architecture is representative of the early immigration of Alsatians. The church construction began in 1853 using limestone from a local quarry. Ox-Wagons carried timber from the Medina River, likely at Castroville.
Saint Dominic Catholic Church – Limestone Block Construction remains on this sidewall with arched window Photo taken late February 2022Saint Dominic Catholic Church – photo credit(2). Note the main door arch and window match. This photo is from about 1912
By 1914 the structure was abandoned in favor of a site in “New” D’Hanis just 1 mile away. When the Southern Pacific Railroad made their new survey the depot moved to the northwest. The more official town center had relocated. To best serve the community several new sanctuaries were built through time. The interesting history of the living and thriving community of faith continues(1). The current Holy Cross Church is fittingly built of D’Hanis brick, a local source of Hand-Made Natural Terra Cotta (2).
The limestone remains, while the cypress timbers have mostly vanished.
The arches are formed beautifully from large blocks of limestone and secured in place with a large and ornate Keystone. Gravity does all the work to interlock and support more block stonework above. Columns of very large blocks are on either side of this arched window.
Keystone (central Voussoir) at the top of this arched window support rockwork above. Blocks below the keystone and along the arch radius are called voussoir blocks.
Church windows would have been filled with stained and ornate glass. Exterior stone faces all have noticeable chisel markings created by the stonemasons. These increase the ability of the flat stone faces to hold plasters and future lime washes. How many stone masons were needed in this area to build this significant structure and apparently so many more homes?
References:
(1) The history from Saint Domenic Church to the current Holy Cross Church is chronicled here.
Themap below shows the Alsatian Homestead at the beginning of the 2021 renovation.
Rohrbach house on the left and 500′ to the east is the Huegele home. As a kid and having full rein on this land, I trekked everywhere. There is much more in this small area than you might think. Let’s see if you can find these features:
Barns, Log Cabin, Water Wells, Cistern, Riding Arena, watering troughs, hay feeders, plowed and barren field, wooded lane, four pine trees, cattle pens, stored lumber, stored limestone, two tractors, water box, squeeze chute, power line, mustang grape arbor.
Google Earth aerial photo Image date 12/27/2018 (North is up)
The homes are on the border between farming and ranching. Just north of the homes in the photo below is an Oak forest with a grove of special trees. One of them is the Bee Tree. When the beekeeper came to put some boxes on the farm for our crops, he put a few next to the fields for pollination. This was very logical as my father showed him the fields and our survey boundaries. The boxes were temporary and would be gone at the end of their season. It was the nature of the business. When I heard this I was pretty disappointed as kids can be and this probably surprised my dad. Heck, I was only 15. Why can’t the bees stay?
Then the beekeeper turned to me and asked about the farm, the big trees, streams and ponds. He was calm and asked me some very good questions. Where is the biggest tree, where is the tree with a big knot, Where is the tree that is just between the field and the water. Which tree has a knot way up high you cannot climb? Is there a tree like that between the fields and the water?
Now we were getting somewhere as I had assessed every tree down by the pond and in the whole forest. When the season was done, he came to get the boxes and loaded just one on his truck and asked that I show him the tall oak I could not climb with a big knot in a tree joint perfectly placed. We drove down there and this time I felt like he came to see me. He put on his whole bee clothing and commenced to get the queen out of the box and take it up to the knot where he installed it. He left enough worker bees to join the queen in her new home.
The Bee Tree is somewhere on this map
It turned out to be a good home for the bees as they are still there forty years later. Maybe there are other trees that they spread to. The knot is definitely smaller than their original box, but they seem happy. Even with some of our biggest dry periods there are perennial streams nearby, a safe home, and fields not too far away with plenty of pollen.
Back to Originals. Prior to about 1890, lime putty mortar was used for the construction of the Alsatian and other stone structures. It was one of very few choices, available and well known by stone masons. Without proper maintenance, sooner or later erosion, settling, and use causes stone structures to fail and require repairs.
Advances in technology are often overused and misused. One great example is the use of Portland cement to repair stone homes built prior to 1890. Portland cement came along in the 1890’s and was advanced and perfected to bond aggregate into a solid foundation or sidewalk or highway overpass. But in this very relevant Alsatian restoration, the original is better than the new. Ask any skilled architect or stone mason. Portland cement is very good for other purposes, but it has characteristics that makes it a bad repair and patching material for a limestone block home. It expands at a different rate than the native limestone in the case of temperature and humidity fluxuations. It is also a glaringly grey, ugly filler that does not match the tan stones whatsoever. It looks out of place and it is a bad actor, accelerating further erosion and damage.
Replacing the mortar in between the stones is a process called repointing. First all of the exterior hardware is removed, electrical wiring, gate attachment points, rods, well intenioned steel plates, pipes, re-bar and more. Then all of the mortar is removed from one side of the wall between the stones-halfway through-whether it is Portland or the original lime putty mortar.
New mortar is made and with proper care and attention, the addition of limestone from the same sources as the stone are used as the aggregate. This gives the mortar a similar color to the stones, but also grows and shrinks along with the stone more harmoniously. The mixture is troweled by hand into the crevices to rebond the loose stones and to further stabilize all others.
Most of the larger stone blocks at the Rohrbach home have chisel marks on the stone face. This process was done by the original stone mason to increase the purchase or bonding power of the planar wall surface to accept a lime-plaster scratch coat of lime whitewash.
Images above from the 2021-2022 ongoing renovation. There are different chisel marks in each room and wall indicating different masons or time periods for construction. The Rohrbach home was built one room at a time, probably over several years.
Lime Mortar Chemistry
Calcite fired in kiln to produce quicklime.
CaCO₃ + HEAT → Ca0 + CO₂
Quicklime slaked to make hydrated lime.
CaO + H₂O → Ca(OH)₂
Hydrated lime (dissoved in mortar) exposed to air, reforms into calcite.
The ancient history of the Alcase region currently in France is full of power struggles, wars and boundary changes. The rich and productive land next to the Rhine river contains the iconic Alsatian towns of Strasbourg, Colmar, Mulhouse, and the tiny village of Wahlbach. The carpenters and masons building the Steinbach house in Wahlbach France would be proud to know how much care, respect and reverance has been given to their structure in the last 400 years.
1618-1648 Steinbach House Built in Wahlbach, France
1776 United States Independence from the United Kingdom
1836 Battle of the Alamo
1843-1847 Castro brings Immigrants from Alcase to Texas
1844 Castro founds the city of Castroville
1845 Texas Statehood as part of the United States of America
1845 Castro founds Quihi
1852 The Huegele Homestead
1852 Fall: Construction begins on St. Mary’s School in San Antonio
1853 Construction begins on St. Dominic Church in D’Hanis
1855 The Rohrbach Homestead
1861 American Civil War
1890 Quihi Gun Club Formed
1914 WWI
1939 WWII
1948 Sammy’s Restaurant Opened in Castroville
1998 Steinbach House was moved to Castroville Texas
Watercolor painting was described to me as a series of painting steps in layers while having great respect for the color white. Maybe a beginner starts with these steps and along with their content and guidance from a teacher they start the path of experience. It takes time. The paths on the road to artistry diverge and meander until the trail suits the artist. The washes and brush strokes create the content and contain the DNA of the artist.
Jeff Prestridge left a trove of his watercolor paintings for us to enjoy. He did not exhibit many of the over 1,000 paintings he created in retirement. They were all practice on the way to being a better painter. The farmboy in him led his eye to landscapes, vegetable gardens, and luckily for us Alsatian homes.
ALSATIAN Homestead 