C.6.0 - 3219 Funston Street — original pdf

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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION DECEMBER 14, 2020 PERMITS IN NATIONAL REGISTER HISTORIC DISTRICT HR-20-179655 3219 FUNSTON STREET C.6 - 1 PROPOSAL RESEARCH Demolish a ca. 1947 house and construct a new two-story house in its place. ARCHITECTURE The existing house is a one-story, rectangular-plan, hipped-roof, frame house with a central, partial-width, hipped-roof, independent porch on paired plain wood posts; single and double fenestration. According to city building and utility permits, the house was built in 1947. The first owners ad occupants were Floyd E. and Arlene D. Wilder, who lived here at least through the end of the 1950s. Floyd E. Wilder was a plant operator for the Lower Colorado River Authority, but more importantly, was the “exalted ruler” of the Elks Lodge in Austin and was very active in Elks organization activities throughout the state in the 1950s and 1960s. Arlene D. Wilder was very active in the Benevolent Patriotic Order of Does, the women’s auxiliary of the Elks. She worked as a clerk in the State Employment Commission for many years. The Wilders eventually retired to Toledo Bend Reservoir, and spent the rest of their lives there in Sabine County. STAFF COMMENTS The house is outside the bounds of any city survey to date, but was listed as non-contributing to the Old West Austin National Register Historic District, although staff disagrees with that determination as the house exhibits its basic form and materials to a large degree. Staff has evaluated this house for designation as a historic landmark and has determined that the house does not meet the criteria for landmark designation as set forth in City Code: a. Architecture. The house is a post-World War II minimal traditional cottage with no architectural distinction. It does not qualify for landmark designation under the criterion for architecture. b. Historical association. The house was the long-time home of a couple who were very active in the Elks Lodge and its women’s auxiliary, but there do not appear to be significant historical associations that would qualify this house under the criterion for 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. NEW CONSTRUCTION The proposed new construction will be a two story house with a detached garage. The house will have a variety of exterior cladding materials, with stucco and painted hardi-board in a horizontal pattern as well as what is described as a board-and-batten configuration. The  1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. C.6 - 2 house will have a standing seam metal roof and a variety of gables and a shed dormer. There is a partial-width porch on the front of the house; it will also have a standing seam metal roof and steel posts. The detached garage will also have painted hardi-board siding and a gabled roof with shed dormers to each side. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards do not specifically apply to new construction in a historic district. Design principles for new construction in historic districts generally address size, scale, materials, fenestration patterns, relation to the street, and compatibility with the contributing houses within the district, and more specifically, on the same block as the proposed new construction. Common recommendations include: New construction should be compatible with contributing buildings in terms of front set-back, orientation to the street, building form, massing, proportions, and roof forms. New buildings should not stand out from or overwhelm the contributing buildings within a historic district; they may have a traditional style, but should not replicate a historic style to avoid creating a false sense of history. New construction should have window-to-wall area ratios, floor-to-floor heights, fenestration patterns, and bay divisions compatible with those on contributing buildings. Select materials for new construction that will be compatible with those on contributing buildings within the district. Do not use an exterior cladding material that is not otherwise found in the district. Use windows in new construction that reflect the profile and configuration of windows in contributing buildings within the district. Avoid the use of false muntins attached to or inserted between insulated glass panels. Design roofs with simple forms that are present on contributing buildings within the district. Avoid overly busy roof forms. Design window and door openings to be compatible with spacing patterns on contributing buildings within the district. New construction should be in scale with contributing buildings on the block. Consider a front porch if porches are common on contributing buildings within the district. The applicant’s proposal is for a house far larger than any of the contributing houses in this section of the Old West Austin National Register Historic District, and uses a variety of exterior wall materials that is incompatible with the more monochrome aspects of this post- World War II neighborhood. The proposed house has a lot of stucco, which is not typical of this neighborhood, and a much more expansive fenestration pattern than is typical of the contributing houses in this historic district. STAFF RECOMMENDATION The existing house does not qualify as a historic landmark, so staff recommends release of 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. For the new construction, staff recommends that the materials on the house be simplified, emphasizing wood or wood-like siding to the greatest extent possible to be more compatible with the contributing houses within this part of the historic district. The design for this house seems to hearken to a Queen Anne massing, which is incongruous with the character of this historic district; staff recommends that the height  C.6 - 3 of the house be graduated to lessen the height difference between this house and the contributing houses in the district. Across Funston Street from the subject house – photo taken February, 2019 The subject house is at the right of this photo, taken February, 2019, looking towards the houses on W. 33rd Street.  C.6 - 4 Subject house at left, looking south on Funston Street with new two-story construction next door – photo from February, 2019.  LOCATION MAP C.6 - 5  C.6 - 6 3219 Funston Street ca. 1947  C.6 - 7 OCCUPANCY HISTORY 3219 Funston Street City Directory Research, Austin History Center By City Historic Preservation Office November, 2020 1959 1957 1955 Floyd E. and Arlene D. Wilder, owners Floyd: Arlene: Floyd E. and Arlene D. Wilder, owners Secretary, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Plant operator, Lower Colorado River Authority Clerk, State Employment Commission Floyd E. and Arlene D. Wilder, owners Floyd: Arlene: Plant operator, Lower Colorado River Authority Clerk, State Employment Commission Floyd E. and Arlene D. Wilder, owners Floyd: Arlene: No occupation listed Clerk, State Employment Commission Floyd E. and Arlene D. Wilder, owners Floyd: Arlene: Apprentice, Lower Colorado River Authority Clerk, Texas Employment Commission 1952 1949 1947 The address is not listed in the directory. NOTE: Floyd C. [sic] and Arlene D. Wilder are listed at 501 W. 13th Street. Floyd Wilder was an apprentice plant operator for the Lower Colorado River Authority; Arlene Wilder was a clerk for the State Unemployment Compensation Commission. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES Floyd E. and Arlene D. Wilder (ca. 1948 - ) His 1940 World War II draft registration card shows that Floyd Earl Wilder was living in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he worked at the Corpus Christi Naval Base. He was born in 1918 in Duluth, Minnesota and his closest relative was his sister, who lived in Victoria, Texas. He was 5’-10” tall, weighed 145 pounds, and had a ruddy complexion with black hair and brown eyes. Arlene Davis (later Wilder) appears in the 1940 U.S. Census as a lodger in the home of James and Mary Reed at 513 E. Monroe Street in Austin. Arlene Davis was born in Texas, and was a comptometer operator for the NYA office. She lived in rural Gonzales County, Texas in 1935. Floyd Davis married Arlene Davis in Travis County in February, 1941. The gravestone for Floyd and Arlene Wilder is in the Oliphint Chapel Cemetery in Sabine County, Texas. It indicates that both were born in 1920 and that Arlene Wilder died in 1998; the gravestone does not have a death date for Floyd Wilder. The U.S. Social Security Death Index shows that Arlene Wilder was living in Hemphill, Texas at the time of her death in April, 1998.  C.6 - 8 Arlene Wilder installed as president of the Benevolent Patriotic Order of Does, the women’s branch of the Elks Club Austin Statesman, January 10, 1958  C.6 - 9 Floyd Wilder elected to rule the local Elks Lodge Austin Statesman, March 24, 1961 ARLENE DAVIS WILDER Arlene Davis Wilder passed away April 8, 1998, from terminal cancer. She is survived by her loving husband of 57 years, Floyd E. Wilder; her daughter and family, Gail, Ernie, Scott and Jason Genthner, of Plano, Texas; sister, Muriel Jamison, of Hardwood, Texas; brother, Winston M. Davis, of Palestine, Texas; friends. She was born in Waelder, Texas, married and lived in Austin, Texas, for 42 years. During this time, she was employed in the Texas Employment wonderful many and  C.6 - 10 Commission State Office. She was also a charter member of the B.P.O. does 3101. Following retirement 15 years ago, they moved to Frontier Park on Toledo Bend. A memorial service will be held Saturday, April 18, 1998, at 11:00 a.m. at Oliphant Memorial Garden, located in Frontier Park, Texas, Hwy 21 East. In lieu of flowers, it is Arlene's wish that memorial contributions be made to the Oliphant Memorial Garden, Rt. 1, Box 1692D, Hemphill, Texas 75948. Obituary of Arlene Wilder Austin American-Statesman, April 14, 1998 Building permit for the construction of this house (1947)  C.6 - 11 Water service permit for this address (1947)