Splitrock (Burns-Klein House)

In 1891, Thomas F. Burns bought 3 ¾ acres of the Jones and Sedwick property along the west bank of Shoal Creek. Burns, a Scottish immigrant, married Arbanna J. Nelson in Travis County in 1876. Property records and lumber marked “Sutor & Co.” Date his house to circa 1892. Thomas, Arbanna and six children lived here in 1900. Thomas was listed as a stone cutter and owner of a marble shop. He added an additional acre to his homestead in 1901. Thomas’ son, Frank C. Burns, owned the Capitol City Marble Co. at 211 W. 6th Street. In 1911, Thomas Burns sold the property to Hippolyt Dittlinger, owner of Dittlinger Roller Mills in New Braunfels. His niece, Anita Dittlinger Quinlan, and her husband, James, lived here with their three children from 1912-39. In 1939, the Quinlans moved to Fredericksburg and subdivided land surrounding the house into eight city lots on the east side of Splitrock Avenue (later Wooldridge Drive). In 1945, Anita sold the property to Joe H. Klein, Jr., and his wife, Jayne Linville Klein. The 1 ½-story frame house is a vernacular center passage dwelling, designed with three rooms on each side of the hallway. Stairs provided access to the attic and dormer bedrooms. Originally, the east side of the house, looking toward the city, was the front. When Splitrock Avenue became a designated street in Pemberton Heights, primary access was reversed and the west side became the front. The scenic property on a bluff above the creek includes numerous centuries-old live oak trees, the largest of which is a city of Austin registered tree. The house has remained largely unaltered, even as the city has expanded far beyond its once-rural setting.

Splitrock (Burns-Klein House) is a historical marker in Austin, Travis County, dedicated in 2013. It is one of 336 historical markers documented in Travis County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 641 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 30.2989, -97.7508 near Austin. The nearest cataloged historic site is Nagel, Chester and Lorine, House (historic place), about 0.4 miles away. Others within a short drive include The Homesite of Gordon and Margaret Catterall Mills, Jane Yelvington McCallum, and McCallum, Arthur N. and Jane Y., House.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5507017636. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.