Burnet’s Craddock house has new home, new purpose

JARED FIELDS • PICAYUNE STAFF

BURNET — When crews went to move the historic Craddock house on its final journey Feb. 8, they found red high heels and a handmade cardboard sign that read “Is This Kansas?” under it.

No witches were crushed, however.

And although it was picked up and moved by a truck instead of a tornado, the house did make it to its new home on the eastern edge of Burnet at Airy Mount.

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Crews started the house, built around 1902, on its journey Feb. 6 when they moved it from its lot on Jackson and Boundary streets to the Vanderveer Street Church of Christ parking lot. On Feb. 8, the house slowly made its way east on Texas 29 as crews raised wires and moved stoplights at two intersections.

Traffic also was stopped for about 30 minutes on the final quarter-mile of the trek as no side roads could be used to divert traffic. The house was too wide for any traffic to pass on the highway.

The house and truck were stuck in the field at Airy Mount for a few minutes, but at about 10 a.m., the house made its way to its new location.

“There’s a lot of work ahead of us,” said A.B. Walters, Airy Mount owner. “It is a relief to get it settled and get it moved and to do it with, hopefully, the blessing of the majority of citizens of Burnet. I feel like this is the best solution for everyone involved: the city, historical group. I think they’re happy with it.”

The city and historical groups have worked for years to reach an agreement on what to do with the Craddock house. City officials plan to use the house’s former lot for construction of new city offices. Some residents wanted the house preserved on the site.

Walters and his wife preserved another old home in Burnet before purchasing the Craddock house. That work, he said, is what led to some people in Burnet asking the Walters to preserve the Craddock house.

So Walters began talking with city leaders.

“We played with the idea of moving to (U.S.) 281, and a lady called and said (Airy Mount) was for sale,” Walters said. “It fell together from that viewpoint.”

With the historic Johnson house, an old stone barn, on the property, Walters decided the use the Craddock house to turn Airy Mount into a dining destination.

The Johnson house will be a Texas Fine Dining restaurant that Walters hopes to have open by the end of the summer. The barn, to be called Stovepipe’s Smokehouse and Tavern, will feature Hill Country barbecue, and the Craddock house will offer fresh home cooking.

“We’re shooting for about 18 months of having the project complete,” Walters said.

The entire project includes much more than the three restaurants. Walters plans for a permanent farmers’ market to sit just off the highway, an aquaponic greenhouse, horse-plowed crops, a welcome center, area wine displays and a stage for bands.

“We were looking for a better dining experience, and so we decided just to create it,” Walters said. “We hope it will be a destination-type operation, so we’re pulling people in from all over the county, and people coming to the Hill Country to experience the Hill Country will come do business with us.”

jared@thepicayune.com