San Antonio’s Guenther House: It’s a Restaurant, Store and Museum
The year was 1860 and Carl Hilmar Guenther at age 34 enjoyed the best of two worlds: booming business and pleasant home life. Next door on the eight acres was his flour mill.
Guenther House and the mill continue to thrive today. The home is a three-in-one complex: restaurant, museum and company store. Also next door is corporate headquarters for C. H. Guenther & Son Inc., which also has manufacturing facilities in Tennessee and South Carolina turning out such brands as Pioneer and White Lily.
The original house was a two-story, six-room structure constructed of limestone blocks quarried north of San Antonio. Mortar joining the stones was made from rocks downstream. The roof was comprised of metal sheets.
Lower rooms, like the original, small dining area, which serves the same purpose, and the kitchen, where restaurant cooks prepare meals from scratch, were built partly below ground to insulate the family from summer heat.
“We’ve remodeled the kitchen twice since we opened the restaurant in 1988,” explains Donna Vaughan, director of the operation who began as a server more than 16 years ago. “As we’ve grown, we’ve adapted. We redid the kitchen so we could get the hot food out hot and the cold food cold.”
The main dining area, formerly the tearoom, was constructed in 1917. It later was restored and reflects the Art Nouveau style of the 1920s with stained glass ivy window panels and seats about 40. It has an only for show fireplace.
“Guenther House served as the family home until 1943 when it was costing too much to maintain,” Vaughan says. “Then it became a research lab and storage facility.”
The second floor consists of the museum, once the library, which reflects the Victorian era. Fixtures include a crystal chandelier and huge gold-leaf wall mirrors. There’s an original piano from Stuttgart and restored period furniture, plus Guenther family remembrances and photos. There’s also a collection of Dresden china anniversary plates that were given to mill customers.
The two-part store is the master bedroom and connecting sitting room where gourmet baking mixes, stoneware, cookware and other gift items are sold. Rooms feature fireplaces and tile that were part of the original d�©cor.
The roof garden, once a ballroom, was constructed in 1927. The spacious room or the entire facility can be reserved for a private gathering, but only “after we close,” Vaughan stresses. “Anytime after 6 p.m., any evening.”
It offers one of two views of the San Antonio River while there are some tables for patrons ordering take-home.
Breakfast is served from 7 a.m., lunch until 3 p.m. “Our most popular dishes are waffles and the chicken salad plate,” says restaurant manager Dorian Mills, who relocated from Austin.
Food is prepared fresh daily. Taco soup isn’t too spicy, boasts plenty of vegetables, with chips. Biscuits are light, not too doughy. The beef stew isn’t too thick and heavenly.
The most popular dishes are champagne chicken enchiladas, with tossed salad, and the chicken salad plate, with seasonal fruit. Portions are generous, especially pastries that taste as good as they look.
Outdoor dining is popular during any season. In the summer, a flash cool system cools down the Arbor patio as much as 30 degrees, Donna says.
Simply, water is pumped through tubes spraying a mist through nozzles above seating for about 48, but outside the area. The cooling system works quite efficiently. During cooler weather, heaters keep diners toasty.
No reservations are accepted for one simple reason, Vaughan points out. “Since the Arbor isn’t covered completely, if it rains, we need to move those people inside.”
Inside or outdoors, the Guenther House pays special attention to the holiday season. “For more than a decade, we’ve displayed a gingerbread house of this place, all three floors, in the museum. That’s been ever since I was pregnant with my son. It’s part of the Christmas celebration that runs through January.”
This family business has stood the test of time. And the Guenther House was added in 1990 to the National Registry of Historic Places. That’s a tribute to an immigrant who came to the Lone Star State, became a citizen during the most trying times in Texas history and launched a true tradition.
