Muller House

229 Madison

The Mueller House is a Victorian with central entry stairway and a front porch with spindled frieze. The third-floor pediment has coupled windows and pressed wood ornamentation. The spindlework porch frieze reflects the design of the balustrade. The wooden rear section is a later addition.

Johanna Von Gersdoff bought this lot for $300 from Malvina Nelson on the 10th of May, 1870. She built this house and it was her homestead until about 1878. The 1877 city directory shows her living at this location. It is possible that her original one-story house is one of four shown on the 1873 bird’s eye map.

Charles H. Mueller moved to this address in 1879. He had a business on West Commerce Street, selling paints, oils, varnishes, painters’ supplies, artists’ materials and picture framing. On the 2nd day of January 1894, he and his wife, Emilie, signed a contract with Henry Clemens agreeing that Clemens would remove the existing house and build a new one designed by Albert Beckmann. The house was to be completed under the direction of Beckmann no later than 23 February 1895. The cost was $3151. Family members lived here and worked in Mueller’s store until about 1910. One of his daughters, Lucille, and her husband, Ernest Scrivener, were the parents of Ernest, Jr., the founder and owner of Scriveners, Inc., previously located at Broadway and N. E. Loop 410.

Mr. and Mrs. A. Basse were resident owners of the house from 1911 to 1926. After that it was rented for a number of years and converted to apartments. In 1992, Dr. J. J. and Gloria Diaz sold the property to Grover and Jennifer Tice, who added the large structure at the rear of the property and operated The Yellow Rose Bed and Breakfast. Deborah Field and Justin Kit Walker bought the house in 1996 and continue to operate the bed and breakfast.

The King William Area, A History and Guide to the Houses, Mary V. Burkholder and Jessie N.M. Simpson; published by the King William Association, 2017