D.15 - 2000 Forest Trail — original pdf

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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION OCTOBER 26, 2020 DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS HDP-2020-0414 2000 FOREST TRAIL D.15 - 1 PROPOSAL Demolish a ca. 1941 house. ARCHITECTURE One-story, rectangular-plan, side-gabled, painted brick Colonial Revival-styled house with paired 6:6 fenestration in the facade; central entry is flanked with fluted pilasters; one-story flat-roofed addition to the left of the main block, set back from the front of the house. RESEARCH The first owners and occupants of the house were T. Wilburn and Olin S. Harrell, who lived here from the time of the construction of the house in 1941 until around 1943. T. Wilburn Harrell was a cashier and clerk for the City Water, Light, and Power Department. From around 1943 until 1960, this house was the home of Albert and Essie Taylor. Albert Taylor was a banker who retired before his death in 1955. Essie Taylor lived here until her death in 1960. The next owner was Charlie D. Dye, a local attorney, who constructed additions to the rear of the house. STAFF COMMENTS The house is outside the bounds of any City survey to date. Staff has evaluated this house for designation as a historic landmark and has determined that the house may meet the criteria for landmark designation as set forth in City Code: a. Architecture. The house is a very good example of a restrained version of the Colonial Revival, one of the most popular styles in the country. The house has the symmetrical configuration with a central entry, here flanked with pilasters, and paired 6:6 windows. Although the Colonial Revival style was very popular in Austin, this house is a more rare one-story, brick interpretation. The house may qualify as a historic landmark for its architectural significance. b. Historical association. The house was owned and occupied by local banker Albert Taylor and his wife Essie, for the majority of the historic period. Albert Taylor was from Luling, and spent some time with his adult son in the oil fields of Eastland County, Texas before purchasing this house. There does not appear to be significant historical associations. c. Archaeology. The house was not evaluated for its potential to yield significant data concerning the human history or prehistory of the region. d. Community value. The house does not possess a unique location, physical characteristic, or significant feature that contributes to the character, image, or cultural identity of the city, the neighborhood, or a particular demographic group. e. Landscape feature. The property is not a significant natural or designed landscape with artistic, aesthetic, cultural, or historical value to the city. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Encourage rehabilitation and adaptive re-use and consider if the existing original block of the house can be incorporated into the design for the new structure, as Colonial Revival houses characterize this section of West Austin, then relocation over demolition, but release the permit upon completion of a City of Austin Documentation Package, consisting of photographs of all elevations, a dimensioned sketch plan, and a narrative history, for archiving at the Austin History Center. The house does not fully meet two of the criteria for individual designation as a historic landmark. D.15 - 2  D.15 - 3 2000 Forest Trail ca. 1941 OCCUPANCY HISTORY 2000 Forest Trail City Directory Research, Austin History Center By City Historic Preservation Office October, 2020 1959 Essie Taylor, owner Widow, Albert Taylor No occupation listed Essie Taylor, owner Widow, Albert Taylor No occupation listed Essie Taylor, owner Widow, Albert Taylor No occupation listed NOTE: Albert Taylor died in 1955. Albert and Essie Taylor, owners No occupation listed Albert and Essie Taylor, owners No occupation listed 1957 1955 1952 1949 1947 Albert and Alberta F. Taylor, owners Albert: No occupation listed book-keeper, American National Bank Alberta: D.15 - 4 1944-45 1942 1941 Albert and Essie Taylor, owners No occupation listed F. Wilburn and Olin S. Harrell, owners Clerk, City Water, Light, and Power Department NOTE: Albert and Essie Taylor are not listed in the directory. The address is not listed. NOTE: F. Wilburn and Olin Harrell are listed at 2101 Wilson Street. He was a cashier for the City Water, Light, and Power Department. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: Albert and Essie Taylor (ca. 1943 – ca. 1960) The 1920 U.S. Census shows Albert and Sallie E. (Essie) Taylor as the owners of a house in Luling, Texas, where Albert Taylor was a cashier in a bank. He was 40 years old, and had been born in Texas to Mississippi-born parents. Essie Taylor was 39 years old, had been born in Mississippi, and had no occupation listed. They had 3 sons: Albert B., 15; Harold E., 9; and Jack G., 5. All the boys had been born in Texas. Next door in a rented house lived Sallie E. Taylor’s parents, Bayless and Mary J. Greer. Bayless Greer was 74, had been born in Mississippi, and had no occupation listed. Mary J. Greer was 60, had been born in Mississippi, and had no occupation listed. Albert and Essie Taylor appear in the 1930 U.S. Census as the owners of the house at 104 W. 33rd Street in Austin, a house that was worth $20,000. Albert Taylor was 51, had been born in Texas, and was the vice-president of a bank; Essie Taylor was 49, had been born in Mississippi, and had no occupation listed. They had 3 sons, all born in Texas: Brice, 24, the manager of an investment company; Earl, 20, and Jack, 15, neither of whom had an occupation shown in the census report. Also in the household was Essie Taylor’s mother, Mary Greer, a 70-year old Mississippi-born widow with no occupation listed. According to the 1940 U.S. Census, Sallie E. Taylor was a lodger at the Maverick Hotel in Eastland, Texas. She was 60, had been born in Mississippi, and had no occupation listed. Also listed in the same hotel was her son, Albert B. Taylor, 35, a Texas-born oil producer, and Albert B’s wife, Alberta F., 46, who had been born in Texas and had no occupation listed. All the family members lived in Austin in 1935. Albert Taylor the father is not listed in the census report for the hotel. His 1955 death certificate shows that Albert Taylor was born in Luling, Texas in 1879, and was living at this address at the time of his death. He was a banker. Esse (as it is spelled on her 1960 death certificate) was living at this house at the time of her death. She was a widowed housewife who had been born in Mississippi in 1880.  D.15 - 5 Society page story of their daughter-in-law and grandson visiting Albert and Esse Taylor Austin Statesman, January 9, 1945 Obituary and funeral notice for Albert Taylor Austin Statesman, June 21, 1955  D.15 - 6 Story on the funeral of Esse Taylor Austin Statesman, February 22, 1960 Building permit for the construction of this house (1941)  D.15 - 7 Sewer connection application for this address (1941) Building permit to Charlie D. Dye to construct a screen porch and addition to the rear of the house (1960)  D.15 - 8 NOTE: Charlie D. Dye was a local attorney who was admitted to practice in Texas in 1960. He was born in 1936 in Travis County, married in 1956, and died in Austin in 1985. Building permit to Charlie Dye to construct a frame den and bathroom addition (1966) and to Scott Kidd to construct an addition and remodel the house (1980)