Historically Unique:
The Marnoch Homestead
T
By Cynthia Leal Massey
he historic Marnoch Homestead on Scenic Loop Road, a half mile north of the road’s intersection with Bandera Road, is the oldest residence in the town of Helotes. Built in 1859, the unique Anglo-American Georgian style, two-story box house with halfoctagon bay towers, was built as a residence for Helotes’s founding family and has also served as an early school, post office, and offices for the Helotes Echo. Originally the main house of a 1,500-acre ranch commissioned by Dr. George Frederick Marnoch for his family, the homestead now sits on an almost three-acre tract in Helotes Park Estates. In 1993, Carolyn and Frank Kennedy, the current owners of the limestone home, received a San Antonio Conservation Society award for their work on the exterior restoration, and in 2010, the house received Texas Historic Landmark designation. A subject of awe and curiosity for almost 160 years, only a few people outside of its owners and their families have seen the interior of this private residence. The Kennedys recently allowed photographer Jack Smith and myself inside for a photo shoot and we are pleased to give the public a first-time peek of the interior of this unique house. Some of the descriptions I use in this article are from Helotes architect Guy Burnett, who provided the architectural analysis for the narrative history I authored for the Texas Historic Landmark application. According to Burnett, the Marnoch House is “simple
Photo by Cynthia Leal Massey 28