Neill-Cochran House Museum
Neill Cochran House Museum Courtesy of Visit Austin Credit
Bill McCullough
Over 100 years of Greek Architecture in the heart of Austin.
Welcome to the Neill-Cochran House Museum, a truly integral part of Austin's city history.
This historic home was built by master builder Abner Cook in 1855 as a suburban estate. The mansion is in the Greek Revival style and holds Cook's trademark portico and balustrade within its design. NCH Museum, as it is called for short, sits near the UT-Austin campus and is considered to be the city's 10th oldest historic site overall, as well as Austin's only intact slave quarters.
While visiting this house museum, which is open each Wednesday through Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm, you will learn all about the home's history, as well as Austin and the state of Texas' history from its 1839 birth to 1930. There are numerous rotating art and history exhibits within the home, as well as several permanent collections including decorative arts, textiles, and visual arts. There are over 7,000 artifacts inside total that work together to 'connect us to the 19th and 20th century Austin and American history.' See how the home was used in the Victorian period with original furnishings and decorative items from the Cochran family's 6 decades of residency, some items including a WWI Service Flag c. 1918, an 1860 Melodeon, and various famous portraits like that of Stonewall Jackson and Col. Styles.
Guided tours are offered each day at 12 pm, 1 pm, and 2 pm and will allow you to learn more in-depth information on the history of the building and the items presented. For instance, during a tour you will learn about how this building was actually first a school for the blind, then a federal war hospital, then home to the Neills and then Cochrans.
