Winedale

Winedale is one of the signature and research collections at the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin. Winedale collects, preserves, and makes available for study important examples of nineteenth-century Texas architecture and decorative arts. Conceived by Houston philanthropist Miss Ima Hogg as a laboratory for university students to explore a variety of disciplines, Winedale represents the critical importance of preserving the built environment and material culture in the investigation of our past.

In the early 1960s, Miss Ima Hogg sought to acquire a historic structure where she could display her growing collection of Texas handcrafted furniture. She learned of the Lewis-Wagner House from her friend and fellow preservationist Hazel Ledbetter. After purchasing the house from Mrs. Ledbetter, she partnered with architecture professor Wayne Bell of the University of Texas to restore the structure and its decorative wall an ceiling paintings.

Over the next few years, Miss Ima rescued several other buildings and relocated them to the land she had purchased around the Lewis-Wagner farmstead to form a historical complex. In 1956. Miss Hogg gifted the property to the University of Texas at Austin.

Miss Hogg was a national leader in historic preservation. Her methods set the standards for many early preservation policies.

The Winedale site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and a designated State Antiquities Landmark. The Lewis-Wagner House is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. Winedale's value as a historic site and research collection, and its illustration of the development of the preservation profession.

Brisco Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin