King William Cultural Arts District

Decorative plaque

The city’s most lavish and elegant homes are located in King William Cultural Arts District, San Antonio’s first suburb. The earliest houses, built in the 1860s, were simple dwellings, but by the 1920s were surrounded by extravagant mansions in a variety of differing architectural styles. Many of the finest homes line King William Street, known as the most beautiful residential street in Texas.

Top 10 Features

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Guenther House

Built in 1860 by Carl Hilmar Guenther, founder of Pioneer Flour Mills. The beautiful parlor and library are open as a house museum, and an excellent restaurant and bakery feature dishes made with Pioneer Flour.

Steves Homestead

Built in 1876, this house was designed by Alfred Giles. It showcases antiques from Europe collected by the houseowners, and is today a museum.

San Antonio Conservation Society

This society is one of the most active community conservation groups in the US, and helps preserve historic buildings. Founded in 1924 by 13 women, it has grown to 3,500 volunteers, and is now based in the 1870 Anton Wulff House.

King William Park and Bandstand

This lovely bandstand was built in 1892 on the grounds of the United States Arsenal. It was moved in 1953 to King William Park, which was acquired by the city in 1901 for payment of back taxes.

Johnson Street Foot Bridge

This pedestrian bridge adorned with tall spires, was built in 1983, to look very much like the old Commerce Street Bridge in downtown San Antonio that spanned the river from 1880–1914.

Edward Steves, Jr. House

This lovely Italianate home, designed by James Wahrenberger and Albert Felix Beckmann, was a wedding gift for Edward Steves, Jr in 1884. The walls are of random-coursed ashlar limestone.

Kalteyer House

One of the few remaining residential buildings designed by noted architect James Riley Gordon, the house was constructed for pharmacist George Kalteyer in 1892. It is built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, with powerful masonry forms and heavy proportions.

San Antonio Art League Museum

The McDaniel Carriage House, built in 1896, was restyled in 1972 to blend in with the neighborhood architecture. It is now home to a small museum and art gallery displaying local and regional 20th-century art with changing exhibits by Texan artists.

River Walk

The stretch of river that flows through the King William District is a peaceful section of the River Walk that attracts early morning joggers as well as leisurely strollers.

Villa Finale Mansion

This Italianate mansion, built in 1876, was restored in the 1960s by visionary preservationist Walter Mathis. Join a house tour to see Napoleonic items, art and furniture by Texas artists, and American and European fine art.

Tip: Pick up a free self-guided walking tour brochure outside the gate of the San Antonio Conservation Society.

Tip: Be sure to have breakfast, lunch, or some baked goods in the fabulous Guenther House restaurant.

Sauerkraut Bend

The district was once farmland belonging to Mission San Antonio de Valero. In the 1860s, the current street plan was designed. So many wealthy German merchants built homes in the 1870s, that the area became known as Sauerkraut Bend. It developed into a neighborhood of large mansions shaded by pecan trees, and the main street was named after King Wilhelm I, King of Prussia.

Visitor Information

Guenther House
305 E Guenther St
210 227 1061

Steves Homestead
509 King William St
210 225 5924

San Antonio Conservation Society
107 King William St
210 224 6163

San Antonio Art League Museum
130 King William St
210 223 1140

Edward Steves, Jr. House
431 King William St

Kalteyer House
425 King William St

Villa Finale Mansion
401 King William St

Villa Finale Visitor Center
122 Madison
210 223 9800