Built 1855 RTHL # 15134 Designated RTHL 1966 Phone +1 512-478-2335 | NRHP Reference # 70000768 Added to NRHP August 25, 1970 Opened 1855 | |
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Location 2310 San Gabriel
Austin, Texas, USA Address 2310 San Gabriel St, Austin, TX 78705, USA Hours Open today · 1–4PMThursday1–4PMFriday1–4PMSaturday1–4PMSundayClosedMondayClosedTuesday1–4PMWednesday1–4PMSuggest an edit Architectural style Greek Revival architecture Similar William Sidney Porter Ho, French Legation, George Washington Carver M, Elisabet Ney Museum, General Land Office Building | ||
The Neill–Cochran House Museum is a historic home in north-central Austin, Texas. Master builder Abner Cook designed and built the house in 1855 as a suburban estate many years before the surrounding area was settled by other homes and businesses. The two-story Greek Revival home features prominent Doric columns and Mr. Cook's signature "sheaf of wheat" balusters.
History
The house was built on 17.5 acres (71,000 m2) northwest of town for Washington and Mary Hill, although they never occupied it. In 1856, it was leased to the Texas Asylum for the Blind, currently known as the Texas Blind Institute, to serve as its first home until Abner Cook finished the school's campus across town.
Subsequently, the House was leased by Lt. Governor Fletcher Stockdale and, it is believed, former Provisional Governor Andrew J. Hamilton. At the end of the Civil War, Federal troops converted the House into a hospital. General George Armstrong Custer was stationed in Austin during Reconstruction, occupying the blind school and, no doubt, visit the Neill–Cochran House.
In 1876, the home was sold to Colonel Andrew Neill, a Confederate veteran. Neill lived there with his wife Jennie Chapman Neill, who stayed on after Neill's death and in 1893 rented the home to Judge Thomas Beauford Cochran.
Cochran purchased the home outright in 1895 for his family and expanded and modernized the home. In 1958, the Cochran family sold the property to The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in The State of Texas. The NSCDA operates the home today as a historic house museum. The Neill–Cochran House Museum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Texas Historical Commission landmark.
In 2007, White Rabbit Adventure Games published a walk-through computer adventure game based on the Neill–Cochran House. The game, "Sterling's Gift", features a fictional story based on published memoirs and diaries that helps the player solve a 150-year-old mystery involving George Custer's wife Libbie. Royalties from the sale of this unique game go to the Neill–Cochran House Museum.