716 Sabine

In 1853 Joseph Renner, a German immigrant, bought a 2-acre tract south of the new Washington Road and east of what is now Sabine Street.  In 1879, 14 years before his death, the tract was divided into lots; some were given to his children and some were sold.  Julia Renner married Still Hull, a wood machinist in the H. & T. C. car shops.  Julia received lot 12, on which they lived until about 1909 in a house which no longer exists.  It burned in the 1990's after Richard Roeder bought the property.

The Fourth Ward North cottage with Gothic Revival elements and a ½ width applied porch now at 716 Sabine was built in about 1876 by a German immigrant named Gottlieb Eisele.  He was a house carpenter, and he built the house himself on a lot that he bought on South Street in 1875.  South Street became Artesian Place, and the house was at 22 Artesian Place.  Artesian Place was a short street parallel to Preston 2 or 3 blocks east of where Preston meets Washington.  It no longer exists.  Gottlieb's son Theodore was also a carpenter.  He never married, and he lived in the house until his death in 1950.  The house was bequeathed to the Agnes Powers family, who lived across the street at 17 Artesian Place.  The house remained in the Powers family until they sold it to the Houston Police Dept. with the stipulation that it not be demolished.  It was put up for auction in 2010 on condition that it be moved into a protected historic district or that it be designated a protected landmark.  It was moved in February 2011 to its present location and restored to its original appearance.

In 2016 Lee Roeder received a Good Brick award from Preservation Houston "for the rescue and rehabilitation of the 1872 Gottlieb Eisele House and compatible new construction in the Old Sixth Ward Historic District".

The Museum of Southern History at HBU exhibits the original carpenter tools that were used by Gottlieb Eisele and his son to build the house and several others in the neighborhood.

For additional historical details click here.