This compound is significant because of its long period of diverse use both as a residence and an industrial site. It is the work of two early residents, Caesar Monad and John Vance. Monad built a small house here around 1850, which was swallowed up in the expansion of the property into a hotel by John Vance beginning in 1854. The large two-story block turns its back to the street, with the main south facade and its deep gallery set to face the Medina River. A stone mill building on the river's edge of the site constructed in the 1850s was later converted by the town into a hydroelectric generating plant to provide electricity to Castroville. The property is once again a place to stay in Castroville, administered by the Texas Historical Commission.