Buddington-Benedict-Sheffield Compound is located in the Aldridge Place/Hemphill Park Neighborhood was originally built by Albert and Rebecca Buddington in 1860. It is one of the oldest existing homes in Austin.
In 1921, the compound became the home of Harry T. Benedict, a mathematician who served as a UT professor and later as the University of Texas president. Delia Edwards, a rich oil man’s widow from Laredo, bought the Buddington property from Benedict in 1938 and commissioned Arthur Fehr to build a cottage for her daughter. Arthur Fehr (Architect) had been employed by the National Parks Service in 1934-1936 and built the cottages for the Bastrop-Buescher State Park in the “Lost Pines”. The compound cottage on the property resembles that work. The compound also features Weigl ironwork and carved walnut mantle executed by Peter Mansbendel likely added during the Arthur Fehr update. Both Weigl and Mansbendel were close friends with Fehr, as the three all sang in the Austin Saengerrunde together. Mansbendel even shared a studio with Fehr from 1935-1940.
Wilhelmne Sheffield whom acted as the real estate in the Delia Edwards purchased in 1937, always loved the property and purchased it from Mrs. Edwards in 1947. Sheffield who had traveled to France loved the walls around homes in the Provence area. So, when he returned to Texas, he enclosed the property with a 20′ limestone wall and topped it with colorful wine bottles to resemble those he had seen in France. The house has changed ownership several time since then and is now on the Texas Historical Commission registry (2004).