Born at Big Hill on August 8, 1874, Walter Hutson Kokernot grew up in a family tied to ranching and trade in and around Gonzales. He first worked in the mercantile business with his brother Herbert L. Kokernot and French Smith, then returned to the family’s cattle interests after his marriage to Susan Virginia “Vergie” Smith on November 23, 1896. Vergie was the daughter of Dr. Robert Lusk and Theresa Smith and the sister of French Olen Smith. By the 1910s the couple’s means and social calendar called for a house that could host large gatherings, charitable events, and family celebrations.
Commission and siting
The residence was completed in 1914 to designs by San Antonio architect Henry T. Phelps. Set on a prominent in-town parcel, the house fronts deep lawns and mature trees, with broad porches that face prevailing breezes. Rear service courts accommodated carriages, horses, and, very early for the period, a two car garage, reflecting the family’s embrace of automobile travel. A small stable for three horses remained part of the daily routine well into the 1920s, bridging the years when residents used both horse and motorcar.
Plan and daily life
Contemporary descriptions and family accounts portray a house organized for entertaining and for an active household. There are three full stories, roughly thirty rooms, and nine fireplaces, with about sixty steps from the basement to the top level. Guests entered a reception hall that opened in sequence to a living room, dining room, and conservatory, allowing music, teas, and formal dinners to move easily from one space to the next. A wide stair rises to a generous second-floor landing and family bedrooms; the upper level was finished for additional bedrooms and leisure rooms, which the family called the “Penthouse.” The house quickly became a social address, and the marriage of the Kokernots’ daughter, Josephine, was held here.
Materials and finishes
The exterior is a refined early twentieth century composition that reads as both stately and comfortable. Large window groups bring light deep into the plan, and porches on multiple sides temper the summer heat. Inside, period woodwork and plaster finishes frame tall doors, transoms, and fireplace mantels. Built-ins in public rooms and service spaces reflect the care that went into storage, display, and hospitality. The scale and finish align with other high-style residences of the 1910s designed by Phelps, who favored gracious circulation and well-proportioned rooms.
Later history
The Kokernots sold the home in the 1940s and moved to Alpine, where Walter continued to manage ranching operations. Vergie died on November 20, 1951. Walter died on December 29, 1952, from injuries in a ranch accident. They are buried together in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Gonzales. In later decades the property was restored for hospitality use and today welcomes guests as the St. James Inn Bed and Breakfast, preserving the house’s tradition of entertaining and its role as a community landmark.