Modern Farmhouse – Symmetrical Victorian style – Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 3,324 square feet, 4 covered porches, 2 fireplaces. .996 acre lot Residential and – or Commercial Use City of Leander water and sewer in front, PEC electric on site.
The 1866 A.S. Mason house is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark home in Leander Texas on slightly less than 1 acre. The home is a symmetrical Victorian style characteristic of the five bay farmhouse homes built in the Central Texas area and in this period of Texas history. Thought to be built by Huffstutler Builders out of Georgetown, Texas, it has a double galleried front porch with 6 square bracketed columns. The 2nd floor gallery has jigsaw-cut balustrades. The style was typical in central Texas with a 5 bay galleried farmhouse.
The main structure of this home was originally an early Texas two-room, dog trot log cabin, but was remodeled in the Victorian era, as so many early Texas log cabins were. The seller has painstakingly restored the structural integrity of the original home with the help of architects, engineers, as well as the Texas Historical Commission. The two masonry wood burning fireplaces and two story limestone chimneys on the end walls were rebuilt. The seller added an architecturally similar addition to the back in 2019, which complements the Victorian Farmhouse style, making the home 3,324 square feet. The exterior is almost complete and has back, side, and 2 front covered porches. The massive beams in the addition allow the interior to be finished out with almost endless variations from very open for a restaurant or other business to walled-off bedrooms, baths, kitchen, living rooms, offices and more for a home. This could be the perfect live and work situation. Finish the interior out in a historic look or use sleek contemprary style so the home can be nostalgic but also have the latest bells and whistles.
Zoning and Uses
The City of Leander has the property zoned LC – 2B so allowable uses are to continue as residential or change to a commercial use such as an Air B and B, restaurant, offices, school or day care, retail sales or services, nursery or greenhouse and more. Contact the City of Leander Planning and Development Services Department at (512) 528-2763 to verify all information and get the particulars. Robin Griffin knows this home well and has been with the city many years. https://www.leandertx.gov/
Utilities
The home has City of Leander water and sewer in front, with PEC Electric Co Op for electricity already on site. There is an old hand dug water well that is original to the home and could possibly be used for some landscape or garden irrigation. Site and Area Across the road from this historic home at 600 Bagdad S is the 16-acre Robin Bledsoe Park with Junior Olympic Pool, playscapes, ball fields, hiking trail, amphitheater, restrooms, and more. To the north and east are undeveloped fields designated as parkland per the City of Leander. To the south is a City of Leander owned lift station in a beautiful small building. Leander, Texas is a fast-growing city of around 90,000 people located in both Williamson and Travis counties, just north of Cedar Park, Texas, and Austin, Texas. Leander is home to the Leander Station, a Capital Metro 13-acre transportation hub in the Leander TOD or Transportation Oriented Development located across from the HEB Plus grocery store with a lake, hiking trail, and parking lot for people using Capital Metro buses or the Capital Metro commuter rail into Austin, Texas. Aerial View of the A.S. Mason Historic Home- video from 2016 History 600 Bagdad Road S Leander TX 78641 was built about 1866 when this area of Leander Texas was a small Texas
600 S Bagdad Road Leander TX 78641 History
Town called Bagdad, named after the hometown of an early settler Bagdad Tennessee. Settlers starting coming to the area destined to become Bagdad Texas in the 1840’s. The settlement grew and soon the town of Bagdad Texas was surveyed in 1854 with the Bagdad Post Office being established in the following year. Bagdad is now part of Leander Texas. Known as the A.S. Mason Home, a farmer named Alpheus S Mason had this home built by Huffstutler Builders of Georgetown Texas. Alpheus was the son of Colonel C.C. Mason who was an early settler of Bagdad and had some stores there. The modern day Bagdad Road was once a well traveled military and stagecoach road in old Bagdad Texas. Leander Texas was established later in 1882 about one mile to the east because Bagdad did not want the rail. Leander grew and Bagdad met its demise. Now the ghost town of Bagdad TX and neighboring Leander Texas have merged. Owning, finishing the home to your liking will preserve one of the most significant of the very few remaining historic homes in Leander Texas. The book Land of Good Water by Clara Stearns Scarbrough has a lot of information about the old town of Bagdad Texas and the Mason family. The Austin American Statesman featured this home in a Saturday February 20th 2016 article it ran in the Statesman Homes section entitled Leander’s Charms Include Historical Sites, Youthful Vibe. Here is a photo of Mr. Heezon’s model he built of the home. The model was on display at the Leander Chamber of Commerce.
Colonel C.C. Mason, Alpheus Mason’s father is credited with being the central figure in starting the old Bagdad Texas school. The Bagdad School became the Leander School. Now, Leander Independent School District, or LISD, is one of the biggest school districts in the Austin, Texas area, serving children of Leander, Cedar Park, and some areas in Austin, TX. Colonel C.C. Mason has a school named after him because of this called CC Mason Elementary, nearby on Lakeline. LISD is well liked and as you know- great schools mean a lot to not only families with school aged children but also for property values.
Aerial View of the A.S. Mason Historic Home in 2016 before seller bought it
Call or e-mail Betty Saenz listing REALTOR at 512-785-5050 for more information on this historic home at 600 S Bagdad Road Leander Texas 78641 Austin TX MLS number 3069628, Residential and MLS number 7449566 Commercial