COMFORT TOUR OF HOMES
OFFERS HISTORY – AND MYSTERY
Historic homes built between 1860 and 1902 are still occupied
Six Comfort homes within walking distance of the City Library will throw open their doors Oct. 21 and allow visitors to tour the residences as part of the 2023 Tour Of Homes, presented by the Comfort Heritage Foundation.
Five historic homes and one “mystery home” were selected for this, the 45th year of Tour of Homes. Five of the homes are located along High Street
The Gustav and Bertha Dietert Ehlers home, built in 1902, is shown in this 1907 photo. The accompanying photo shows the same home, from about the same angle, as it stands today.
The photo above shows the Gustav and Bertha Dietert Ehlers home today, as owned by D.W. and Beth Ivans. At top, D.W. Ivans works on a wall, where exposed fachwerk (timber framing) will be restored and shown as part of the house’s history. Star photos by Jeff B. Flinn
and will have owners or Heritage Foundation docents on hand between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. to guide visitors through the homes, and answer questions about the homes and their original settlers.
Judy Youngers, chair of the Tour of Homes and vice president of the Comfort Heritage Foundation, said the homes are within walking distance, to allow Tour of Homes guests to proceed along the map path while taking in some of Comfort’s shops and restaurants along the way.
Youngers pointed out the oldest of the homes, at 602 High Street, was built by Otto Brinkmann in 1860.
“This one was built in 1860, just six years after Comfort was founded, before the Civil War, and it is being lived in today,” she said. “It has the original German fachwerk (timber framing) on the interior. Some of the walls are that timber-limestone fachwerk.”
The Brinkmann house was awarded a Texas Historic Landmark in 1976 -- the first Comfort structure placed on the National Register of Historic Places, in 1977.
Youngers talked about attractions and traits of the six houses, including Phil and Lisa Jenkins’ home at 513 High Street, built by Christel Lindemann in 1910. The home stayed in the Lindemann family until 2016 before the Jenkins bought it in 2019.
“This home looks real plain on the outside, it looks almost American Gothic, just white with black trim,” she said. “Then you go inside and it just knocks your socks off, what they’ve done with it.”
Built to be rental property, the home morphed into Lindemann’s coffin and burial business, underneath a sign, “Chr. Lindemann, Caskets-Coffins.”
The Tour of Homes guide brochure states the Jenkins “meticulously restored, repaired and encapsulated it into a larger residence, saving as much of the original wood as they could.'
While most off the homes are complete and ready for visitors, tour guests to the D.W. and Beth Ivans home at 928 High Street will get to see first-hand how restoration of a historical home proceeds.
The couple, who moved into the house 11 months ago, have been busy restoring it since.
The center portion of the house was moved to the current spot from a location next to the Ingenhuett Saloon on High Street.
D.W. Ivans said his great-grandmother, Agusta, and her brother, Gus, owned about 10 acres along High Street. Agusta moved back to the area and bought the house – built in 1902 by Gustav Ehlers – in 1925.
“He purchased this lot, dug the well in 1900, dug a cistern, built a barn and then moved the building to this site, and hired a carpenter to build on this addition,” Ivans said. Later, the east wing was added to the home.
When Tour of Homes attendees enter the home, they will become immediately aware of the restoration process. The original wood floor is being restored throughout, and walls – the exposed fachwerk – are clearly visible.
Two other homes on the tour were built in the late 1880s: * 714 Main Street, originally owned by Otto and Marie Ochse Brinkmann and owned by Michelle Elizondo, was built in 1894.
* 629 High Street, built by Conrad and Anna Wiedenfeld Stohacker in 1890, is currently the residence of Kai and Marlene Geschke.
Youngers calls one home on the tour “the mystery house.” Currently for sale, the home’s origin is a mystery, as many stories circulate about how it came to be.
The home was moved to its 1006 High Street site in the early 1980s, Younger said. Neighbors recall family names linked to the home, but no records have been found to substantiate any claims.
The house, she said, appears to have been moved in two sections, linked by huge metal plates. The plates were removed in 2022 and the structure was reconstructed and properly reinforced.
Flooring in the main living room was restored and repaired by piecing together matching boards from the bedrooms.
Tickets to participate on the Tour Of Homes “Stroll Down High Street and Beyond” are $25 and are available at the Comfort Public Library, the Archive Building and the Comfort Chamber of Commerce.
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