Windwehen Home
In 1910, Dr. Carl Victor (C.V.) Windwehen built the Queen Anne Style home at 257 East
Bridge Street in New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas, as a wedding gift to his new bride, Miss Lina Anita von Coreth. Miss Coreth came from a wealthy, long-time New Braunfels family that had emigrated from Germany in the 1840s when New Braunfels was founded.
Dr. Windwehen, a dentist, would practice dentistry in New Braunfels for 40 years. After the death of Dr. Windwehen, Lina lived in the home until her death at the age of 90 at which time the home was sold to Merry and Joel Saegert.
Dr. and Mrs. Windwehen preserved the home during their 65 years in residence and the preservation has continued to this day by the current owners. The home was built just after the turn of the century, a time that afforded luxurious homes of this type for the affluent.
The arrival of the railroads in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries spurred an economic boom in the area. The railways brought prosperity, connecting local farmers, ranchers, and business owners to other regional, state and national markets. New Braunfels emerged as one of south central Texas’ significant markets and the population increased. The arrival of the railroad also resulted in a shift in building techniques from the use of local resources and simple building techniques to more decorative techniques involving prefabricated millwork, imported building materials and use of modern architectural trends and styles.
The Windwehen home represents a shift away from the 1800 style of home building of the early settlers toward standard forms and styles popular across the United States. In Comal County, the use of the Queen Anne Style of home from ca. 1885 to ca. 1910, is generally related to the arrival of the railroad.
