The Cahill- Magnolia Brewery House, c. 1894

The Cahill-Magnolia Brewery House
“Waco’s Hidden Little Gem”

This unique Waco home was built by Pat Cahill, manager of Magnolia Brewery 125 years ago when he arrived in boomtown Waco in 1894. At that time, this area of town was on the outskirts of Waco as it expanded away from the Brazos River to the West, just a block away from the famous Cotton Palace that attracted over 400,000 thousand visitors to Waco each fall to celebrate the cotton harvest. Built entirely of Texas virgin, old-growth heart pine, the Cahill-Magnolia Brewery House originally consisted of only the front section of the entry hall and the two side rooms. Later, about 1898, the back room was added and at the same time the two fireplaces were built.

By 2019, the house had become abandoned, forlorn and red-tagged by the city of Waco for demolition. By tearing down newer, poorly built additions on the back of the house, the original sturdy craftsmanship that had been put into the home by its original builder, was discovered and painstakingly restored! Hidden features like the thirty-foot deep, hand-dug, brick-lined well were exposed and celebrated.

The ceilings were opened up back to their original twelve-foot height an closed fireplaces and heart-pine floors were restored. The back room was fitted out for your comfort with all the conveniences of a modern bath. Then the restoration was topped off with period, turn-of-the-century furnishings.

Today, the Cahill-Magnolia Brewery House stands as a testimony to the recent re-birth of downtown Waco. Situated within easy walking distance of the later Magnolia Silos, this unique home offers visitors inner city convenience in a charming, original historic-Texas setting.