Jules Carl Leffland (1854-1924) was born in Usserød, Denmark, on September 9, 1854. He was the son of Carl Wilhelm and Julia Welhelmine (Olsen) Leffland. He studied architecture at the Institute of Technology of Copenhagen. His father and grandfather were both architects in Denmark. Jules Leffland married Emily Struck in Copenhagen in 1879. They had seven children, including Kai J. and Paul W., who became architects.
In 1886 Leffland immigrated to Texas, arriving in Victoria on April 29. That same year the port of Indianola, on Matagorda Bay in Calhoun County suffered a devastating hurricane—the second in 11 years—and the once thriving town was abandoned. Jules Leffland’s first jobs are said to have involved rebuilding a number of former Indianola residents’ homes in Cuero. In the following decades, Leffland prospered in Victoria and surrounding communities as a versatile architect, designing homes, outbuildings, schools, churches, civic, and business structures.
In 1890s Leffland established the firm of Jules C. Leffland, Architect in Victoria, Texas. The business thrived and, as the years passed, Leffland collaborated with other architects, and the firm’s original name, Jules C. Leffland, Architect changed accordingly, first to Hull and Leffland, with James Hull then Leffland & Son when Leffland’s oldest son, Kai, came of age, then Leffland, Son & Dixon with Sam H. Dixon, Jr. Kai Leffland worked as Kai J. Leffland, Architect after his father died in 1924. Another son, Paul W. Leffland, was also an architect.