The Littlefield House is a historic home in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, on the campus of the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. The home was built in 1893 for

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

veteran George Littlefield, who was a successful businessman in the bank and cattle trades and a major benefactor to UT. It was designed using the popular Victorian style at a cost of $50,000. While living in the house, Major Littlefield and his wife

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

made a tremendous number of contributions to the university, including funds for the

Littlefield Fountain Littlefield Fountain (also known as the Littlefield Memorial Gateway) is a World War I memorial monument designed by Italian-born sculptor Pompeo Coppini on the main campus of the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas, at the entrance to ...

, the Main Building, and the Littlefield Dormitory. They also developed the Littlefield Building downtown, finished in 1912. When Alice Littlefield died in 1935, she left the home to the university. Today the ground floor has been refurbished and is used for University functions. The upstairs is used for office space by the Office of University Events. The home is located at 24th and Whitis streets. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1970. George Littlefield had a "Deodar Cedar" (''

Cedrus deodara ''Cedrus deodara'', the deodar cedar, Himalayan cedar, or deodar, is a species of cedar native to the Himalayas. Description It is a large evergreen coniferous tree reaching tall, exceptionally with a trunk up to in diameter. It has a conic c ...

''), or "Himalayan Cedar" imported from the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

and planted on the property. Littlefield even had the soil where the tree was to be placed dug up and replaced with Himalayan soil.https://books.google.com/books?id=IuMDAAAAMBAJ University of Texas Accolade Magazine, Jan-Feb 2008 Issue, Page 49 Arguably one of the most interesting trees on campus, the 57-foot tree is located on the southwest side of the house, and is readily discernible by its distinctive horizontal layers. It is ranked as the #2 State Champion deodar cedar by Texas A&M Forest Service's Lists Big Tree Registry

References

External links

Littlefield House Lives On: House is a Victorian ghost of the past
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas University of Texas at Austin campus Houses in Austin, Texas National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks Gilded Age mansions {{Texas-struct-stub