Conrad Fuchs house: History up in flames, Part II

Editor’s Note: Part I of “History up in flames” was published in the June issue of The Picayune Magazine and can be read here. It covers the story of the Fuchs family from around the mid-1800s to the turn of the 20th century. Part II addresses the struggle to preserve a 19th-century legacy in 2024 and beyond.

History-loving hearts in two counties broke as news spread earlier this year that a fire had destroyed the historic Conrad Fuchs house in Horseshoe Bay. Most of what’s left of the charred rock walls and locally mixed lime mortar might be demolished by the time this issue of The Picayune Magazine hits the newsstands, while plans for preserving its historical significance should be gaining steam. 

“We’re ready to move forward and preserve what we can,” said Horseshoe Bay City Manager Jeff Koska. “We are going to salvage what we can, what represents the true history out there, and have it accessible to the public.” 

Current owners Jennifer and Paul Raley bought the house and 2.67 acres from the city in 2020 for a symbolic $10 in exchange for giving up the right to sell or subdivide the property. The couple also must allow public access to the structure during regular business hours. 

Renovations were underway at the time of the Feb. 25 fire. The Raleys planned to live in the house and maintain the property, allowing public access to all but the interior of their home. Plans changed with the flames. The couple now intends to build with the city’s blessing. 

“We will build a new home on the property once we are able,” Jennifer Raley said. “It is our intention to use stone from the Fuchs House as we rebuild.”

The Raleys are not the first to attempt a renovation.

In 1970, the house entered what Jim Jorden, author of “A History of the Conrad Fuchs Family,” calls “the Horseshoe Bay years.” Kings Land Inc., which was owned by Frank King, a nephew of Horseshoe Bay founder and developer Norman Hurd, purchased the house and about 670 acres from Mr. and Mrs. C.T. Hedges. 

The Hedges bought the property in 1947, the last in a long line of private owners dating to when Anna Fuchs, who was then the widow of Conrad Fuchs, sold to T.M. and J.R. Yett in 1899.

According to Jorden’s findings, the mills had been torn down and the lumber and iron shipped off for use in World War I. Not much else is known of what the author calls “The Forgotten Years,” 1899-1970.

“This property was assimilated into the Horseshoe Bay Declaration of Reservations in December 1971 and became known as Horseshoe Bay South,” Jorden writes. “Thus, the Hurd cousins became aware of the Fuchs House.” 

Cousins Norman and Wayne Hurd spent $500,000 in 1972 on upgrades to the house, opening it to community events. The Heritage Guild of Horseshoe Bay was founded in 1983 “to bring together those people interested in the history and preservation of historical sites in the Horseshoe Bay area,” Jorden wrote.

The guild held art shows and holiday open houses regularly throughout the 1980s. However, interest in the group waned in the 1990s, and it was disbanded. 

According to Gary Dilworth, who spent over 30 years working for Horseshoe Bay Resort taking care of landscaping and golf courses, including the land around the Fuchs house, the building was left unlocked for years, drawing late-night revelers. 

“It got to where it was trashed,” he said. “There were beer cans and candle wax everywhere.” 

Dilworth has fond memories of the place, which he visited often to maintain the grounds and for its peace and tranquility. 

“I fell in love with it,” he said. “There were no houses or anything up there then. It would be just me up there. It was so pretty and untouched.” 

The house continued to be passed back and forth from the property owners’ association to Horseshoe Bay Resort, to SCB Real Estate Investment, and to Jaffee Interests before ending up with the city of Horseshoe Bay in 2017. 

A dedicated group of volunteers formed the Fuchs House Advisory Committee in 2013 and cleaned up the building and the property. In 2017, they invited the Burnet County Historical Commission for a tour. Pictures taken by Sarah Marie Dilworth (Gary’s daughter-in-law) on the day of the tour show the house and its furnishings in good condition. 

The property opened for public tours in the first half of 2019, and the advisory committee started raising money to stabilize the aging structure. Their efforts fell short of the $200,000 needed to make the house safe for visitors.

Years later, disappointment from the ill-fated struggle is still apparent. Caryl Calsyn’s voice cracked as she spoke at the March 5 meeting of the Burnet County Historical Commission this year, just days after the fire. Calsyn is on the commission and was an active member of the Friends of the Conrad Fuchs Committee. 

“We tried everything we could to save it for the community,” she said. “We cared for that house.” 

Koska, the Horseshoe Bay city manager, said the Friends group was unable to meet the City Council’s deadline for matching funds to renovate the property.

“In 2018, when this was happening, the council decided they weren’t going to spend city tax dollars on this house,” Koska said. “The discussion was to find somebody who would take the house and rebuild it on their own accord.” 

The city had hired Paul Raley to fix the leaking roof while fundraising was underway. When the time period for raising the money passed, Horseshoe Bay began looking for a buyer. 

“The city was looking to get out from underneath it because they were not going to take on the burden of remodeling it,” Raley said. “When I found that out, I reached out and started the conversation (about private ownership).”

Raley owns Raley Design Build, which specializes in high-end remodeling projects and historical renovations. The Fuchs House was an answer to the couple’s dream.

“We loved the house,” Jennifer Raley said. “We loved everything about the house. We loved the history of the house. We absolutely were dedicated and committed to preserving and protecting the home. We were proud to be the caretakers of the home. We were really, really looking forward to living in her.”

In Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem” (known for the line “a raisin in the sun”), he asks, “What happens to a dream deferred?” In this case, the dream adjusts with new parameters. Pieces of the storied Conrad Fuchs home are due to become steps to a gazebo on a city hiking trail. Recovered oak beams will be on display in a new City Hall, which might also contain a cornerstone rock from the burned structure. The Raleys’ new home will most likely incorporate the locally quarried stone used by a Texas pioneer to shelter his family as they brought industry, education, and music to the Hill Country. 

The old Fuchs homestead will eventually sport a new historical marker, and placards with historical facts will dot the landscape. The original marker from the Texas Historical Commission burned in the fire. Its replacement will be updated with the latest in a continuing saga. Even more than 150 years after the first members of the Fuchs family settled along the Colorado River, the story of their influence is still being written.

“I would like to see the site preserved so that people understand what the Fuchs family did and why it’s important for us to know that today,” said Jorden, the history book author. “The house burned, but the message can still be conveyed even if you are looking at ruins.” 

suzanne@thepicayune.com