From the National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form
Landmark Inn Complex
The Landmark Inn Complex is a series of cut limestone structures laid up with adobe-type mortar and covered with white-washed lime plaster . The solid stone walls of the buildings vary between eighteen and twenty-four inches thick.
The original structure built by Caesar Monad on the Landmark Inn property was a one-story stone structure with a separate kitchen building . This structure forms the first floor of the two-story hotel building . The Caesar Monad house and store, built circa 1850, was considerably enlarged by John Vance about 1854 when he made the Monad house and store into a two-story building and added a large, sixty - foot , one-story wing paralleling the Florella Street line of the property.
The Vance Hotel and store building has lime plaster finish on both exterior and interior walls. The hotel has six chambers on the upper level reached by an exterior stairway located in the in set double gallery on the south elevation. The first floor has three chambers and the store is housed in the sixty - foot long one-story wing. The double French-type doors which open onto Florella Street have a simplified Greek Revival entablature with a shallow pediment, cressets and a simple surround molding.
The front of the hotel and the store wing are almost flush with Florence and Florella streets. There is very simple architectural detail throughout the building . The main building has two end chimneys; one is connected to a corner fireplace in the northeast first floor chamber.
The two-story stone bath house has an exterior stair and balcony. According to tradition , the upper room, which served as a tank, was lined with lead. During the Civil War, this lead was melted to furnish bullets for use by the Confederates.
The kitchen, slightly to the west of the hotel building, is a simple one-story cut-stone structure with an end chimney.
On the same property, southeast of the hotel , i s a one and-a-half - storey structure of plastered cut stone which John Vance built to house his family . The building has a raised basement used as storerooms. There is little architectural detailing on the residence. The building has a central hall plan with identical entranceways at the front , or north, elevation , and the south elevation . The entrance has single door with low five-light - wide transom above. Small pilasters with
capitals separate the three - light sidelights from the door. The rear doorway, which opens onto a wooden balcony, repeats the composition on the main doorway.
At the rear of the property, adjacent to the Medina River, is a two-story cut stone structure which was constructed by G. L Haas and Laurent Quintle about 1858. The handsomely simple two story stone structure has an underground millrace from the dam on the Medina River. This mill which was operated by Haas and Quintle and later by John Vance also furnished the cit y of Castroville with its first electricity and power i n 1927.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Landmark Inn, a famous; and historic nineteenth century hotel in a remarkable Alsacian, early Texas town, s located at the east end of town, one-half block from the highway, near the Medina River bridge.
The first structure erected on the property known as Landmark Inn was a one-story stone edifice with a detached kitchen, built by Caesar Monad (or Monod) several years after the founding of Castroville . Monad, a French settler who became mayor of Castroville in 1852, purchased lot 1 of Block 1, Range 3 from Henri Castro in 1849 and lot 2 of the same block and range from Michele Simon in 1850. The structure which he erected was used as both a residence and a store.
In February, 1853, John Vance purchased lots 1 and 2, Block 1, Range 3 from Monad for $3,500. John Vance, born in New York i n 1819, first settled in Little Rock, Arkansas,
Along with his brothers, James and William , and began a mercantile business. After several years, the three brothers moved to San Antonio and opened a general store on Alamo
Plaza. John Vance withdrew from the partnership and, after independently operating a store for a time in San Antonio, he moved t o Castroville.
Vance considerably enlarged the Monad house and store by adding a second floor, a double gallery on the courtyard facade, and outbuildings. The additions, using native stone, followed the architectural style of the original house.. The enlarged structure served as both a store and a hotel . "Vance Hotel" as the property was known for years, was an important stopping place for travelers to and from Mexico. Part of the hotel's renown came from an unusual feature for the time and place - a stone bath house, located i n the courtyard.
Vance also operated a gristmill . This was housed in the two-story stone mill located behind the hotel property, adjacent to the Medina River. The mill property had been sold t o G. L. Haas and Laurent Quintle by Henri Castro for $700 . The dam, cin underground mill race channel and the mill were constructed by Haas and Quintle. Sometime after 1858, Vance acquired the
mill. This mill also furnished Castroville with its first electricity and power in 1937.
In addition to the Vance Hotel, John Vance built a one-and a - half-storey structure on a raised basement to the rear of the hotel . This structure housed the Vance family on the main floor and the basement was used as a warehouse.
John Vance was postmaster from July 1, 1867, t o June 30, 1878. The post office was located in the large first - floor room at the corner of Florence and Florella streets . Vance and his descendents owned the property until 1899. John T. Lawler purchased the property in 1925 and resided there until his death in 1970. The Landmark Inn complex i s now owned by Miss Ruth Lawler, John T. Lawler's sister.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965
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There are two Texas Historical Markers located near the entrance which read:
Landmark Inn Complex
These limestone structures along the Eagle Pass - San Antonio Road at the Medina River ford were once centers of trade, travel, industry, and domestic life. Alsatian colonist Michel Simon settled here in 1844, followed by Caesar Monod, who built a one-story home and store with a separate kitchen in 1849. Within two decades, John and Rowena Vance had converted Simon's home into a wash house, built a new residence, and enlarged the store to include a two-story hotel. A mill was built on the river in 1854, which Joseph Courand modernized after 1876 and J.T. Lawler used for hydroelectricity after 1925. Ruth Lawler kept the tradition of hospitality at her "Landmark Inn'' before deeding it to the state in 1974.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965
Marker is Property of the State of Texas
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Vance Hotel and Store
Constructed in 1849 with local limestone, mortar and cypress lumber, this building includes elements of Alsatian domestic architecture found in Castroville. The 18-inch-thick walls were originally coated with a whitewashed lime plaster, while split cypress shingles covered the gabled roof. It was first a house, store, and post office for Swiss merchant Caesar Monod. By the 1860s, John and Rowena Vance added a wing for the store and a second story for guest rooms. The Vance Hotel, with a nearby bath house and kitchen, gave comfort to travelers on the Eagle Pass - San Antonio Road.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965
Marker is Property of the State of Texas