Roofer Chicks acquired the property where our office is located in 2017. Prior to moving to 808 W County Line Road, our four employees were crammed into a 10’ x 20’ office space we rented at the base of the hill on Walnut (from D. Lee Edwards). Ami lives about a mile from the current office location, and as a runner, had often driven by the office and watched the renovations that the previous owners undertook to metamorphosize the property into the grand structure it is today.
Schmidt Family (1931-1981)
With help from the Sophienburg Museum — and a recent visit from two sisters, Karen Holdridge and Betty Rimmelin — we’ve pieced together a much fuller picture of this home’s history.
Originally, the house stood at 1051 W. San Antonio Street in New Braunfels, where it was built around 1931 and first owned by Mrs. H. W. Schmidt. Over the years, it passed through several generations of the same extended family: Mrs. Schmidt’s daughter Anna Schmidt, her relatives Lawrence and Eunice Meckel, and later Helmuth and Elizabeth Borchers.
Karen and Betty are the Borchers’ daughters (along with Francis and Peggy Podgurski), and they grew up in this house from 1959 until the mid-1970s. Peggy got engaged on the front steps of the house!
They remember an unfinished attic where they loved to “play house,” and proudly told us that their Uncle Lawrence built one of the custom cabinets still inside today.
Their grandmother, Lucy Salge, inherited the property after Lawrence’s passing and later gifted it to their mother, Elizabeth. When the City of New Braunfels widened Walnut Avenue in the 1970s, the Borchers family sold the property and the house was carefully moved to its current location on County Line Road — photos from that time show the roof and second story removed to make the journey possible.
The home has changed a bit since its early days (the turret and side porch were later additions), but its character and the stories within its walls continue to live on.
Pamela Sandberg (1981-1984)
Pamela Sandberg states that she bought the home right after it was moved to 808 W County Line Road in 1981. At that time, “The bank owned the house because a realtor and a home builder went in together and bought the house and ended up turning it back to the bank because they could not get along,” says Pamela Sandberg.
“The amazing thing is I bought the house for $32,000. Talked the bank into loaning me $6,000 in additional funds….and I was able to get it all for $50 down. The bank just wanted to get it off of their books.
“When I came to the house to look at it, I forgot and left my purse there, not once but twice. After the second time, I decided it must be a sign that it belonged to me, so I negotiated with the bank to buy it. I first offered them $20 down and they laughed. I made the comment that it may not be so funny since I didn’t think anybody else had made an offer. They did come back and asked me if I could come up with $50.
“I loved that house. It was still so rural the cattle from the Fishers’ used to come in my yard. There was so little out on County Line Road I could drive in from San Antonio, and if my upstairs light was on, I could see my house driving in. I lived in the house for a couple years and then ended up getting a divorce and selling it.”
Pamela’s daughter, Heather [Schwandt] Allen, recalls, “We had piles of dirt delivered and rode our Diamondback Bikes over the mounds, we stepped on cactus out there and bull nettle – it was such a beautiful property. Daniel J Storch actually added the window I believe… He messaged me to let me know he was working my childhood home.
“I remember the cows coming and mooing and my dad having to chase them off. I remember playing on the porch in the hot, summer, stiffness air… Living out in the country, we didn’t get many visitors. Mom and Dad were working at Zippy’s [the family owned Zippy’s] and someone was driving down our driveway – Michelle [Sawyer Schwandt] grabbed a Bible and I grabbed a sword. I was ready to kill someone. Turns out they were just turning around.”
Wayne Rousseau (1984-1993)
Wayne Rousseau was a park ranger at Landa Park for several years. “My wife and I and two daughters owned and lived in that house from 1984 until 1993. And yes, I guess I bought it from Pam, but not sure. I do remember the name Sawyer. Wayne came and toured the house after we bought it, and let us know he changed the pitch of the stairs going up to the 2nd story (you can see still on the wall how steep they were if you look very closely!) and also built the shed in the back yard.
Gordon G. Jr. and Melanie A Hartman (1993-2012)
Wayne sold the home to a couple named the Hartmans, and the remodeling was done by Charles Storch Sr. It was during this renovation that Wayne Rousseau thinks that the turret was added onto the front of the home.
Rita Griego and Gary Paselk (2013-2016)
From 2013 – 2015 the home was owned and completely remodeled by Rita Griego and Gary Paselk. Gary passed away during the renovations. It was Rita who had the property rezoned as commercial.
Roofer Chicks (2017 – current)
Ami Feller was looking for a location for her office and heard through a friend that the property was going on the market. At that time, there was a gate across the front of the property and of course, County Line was two lanes each direction and you could not park on the road. Ami pulled into the driveway just to get a good look at the house, and the gate opened! Embarassed, Ami went ahead and drove in and was greeted by Rita. Rita gave her a private tour of the home, and the rest was Roofer Chicks (then Feller Roofing of New Braunfels) history!!!!
When Ami was going through the motions to purchase the property (to see if she even qualified) there was a family of red-tailed hawks both in the cottonwood in the front yard and in the tree in the neighbor’s yard. Ami took this as a good omen for things to come and the return of the red-tailed hawks is welcomed with much joy each season.
Although the property was zoned as a commercial property, Ami had a lot of work to do to bring it up to code in order to obtain the certificate of occupancy. While leaving the basics of the structure the same, the company had to pour a concrete driveway, add landscaping and irrigation, widen the doors and install a wheelchair ramp. Unfortunately, she had to remove the claw foot tub in the downstairs bathroom in order to make it ADA compliant (a wheelchair had to be able to turn around). That bathtub is now located in the front yard, under the large cottonwood tree.
