D.8.0 - 3402 Mount Bonnell Drive — original pdf

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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION JANUARY 25, 2021 DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS PR-20-181833 3402 MOUNT BONNELL DRIVE D.8 - 1 PROPOSAL Demolish a ca. 1964 house. ARCHITECTURE One-story, rectangular-plan, side-gabled, ranch-style house with stone and wood siding; combination of sliding and plate-glass fenestration; full-width inset porch on square wood posts with wood rails; prominent stone chimney. RESEARCH The house was built in 1964 by F.E. Ingerson, a noted professor of geochemistry at the University of Texas. Ingerson purchased this property in 1961, and owned it until 1984. Ingerson was born in West Texas in 1906 and earned his Ph.D. in geology from Yale in 1934. After working for the Geophysical Laboratory at the Carnegie Institute in Washington and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), he was recruited to the University of Texas in 1958 as a professor of geology and later became an associate dean of the Graduate School. He wrote close to 200 scholarly scientific articles and was nationally known for his research in the field of geochemistry. He passed away in 1993. An annual lecture series in the Department of Geology is named in his honor. STAFF COMMENTS The house is beyond 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 does not squarely meet the criteria for landmark designation as set forth in City Code: a. Architecture. The house is a good example of the blending of a ranch house with mid-century Modern features, including the expansive use of glass and natural materials that help blend the house and its interior spaces with the natural environment. There does not appear to be any architect noted on the plans for this house, which was built by the Thomas Construction Company, the builder of other mid-century homes in the city, and especially in this neighborhood. However, this house does not appear to reflect mid-century Modern or ranch house design to the extent to render this a very significant expression of either style. b. Historical associations: The house was built by F.E. Ingerson, an eminent professor of geology at the University of Texas who lived here from 1964 until he sold the property in 1984. Ingerson was noted in his field; there may be historical associations during the historic period. 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. D.8 - 2 STAFF RECOMMENDATION Encourage rehabilitation and adaptive re-use, 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 meet the criteria for individual designation as a historic landmark.  D.8 - 3 Building permit to F.E. Ingerson for the construction of this house (1964)  LOCATION MAP D.8 - 4  D.8 - 5 Fred Earl Ingerson (1906-1993) Dr. Earl Ingerson was born on October 28, 1906, in Barstow, Texas. He spent all of his formative years in Barstow, graduating from high school as class valedictorian. He enrolled in Hardin-Simmons College at Abilene and graduated summa cum laude with a BA in chemistry in 1928. He also played on and coached the Hardin-Simmons tennis team to the Texas championship in 1926. At Hardin-Simmons he then got an MA in geology in 1931. Ingerson continued his education at Yale University, receiving the PhD cum laude in geology in 1934. He did post-doctoral work in structural petrology with Professor Bruno Sander at Innsbruck, Austria, in 1934 and 1935. From 1935 to 1947 he was on the staff of the Geophysical laboratory of the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C. and in 1947 became Chief of the Geochemistry and Petrology Branch of the U.S. Geological Survey, a position he held until his move to UT-Austin in 1958. Dr. Ingerson was recruited to develop the field of geochemistry and to enlarge its international reputation. He was Professor of Geology at UT-Austin until his retirement in 1977. From 1961 to 1964 he also served as Associate Dean of the Graduate School. He married Martha Duncan, who was the “gracious lady” behind him until her death in 1979. Professor Ingerson remarried and his second wife, Maureen, died in 1992. During his tenure with the Geophysical Laboratory and the U.S. Geological Survey, Dr. Ingerson authored many of his nearly 200 publications. Among these were such fundamental works as “Laboratory technique in petrofabric analysis” (Geological Society of America Memoir 6, 1938), “Nature of the ore-forming fluid” (Economic Geology, 1940), “Liquid inclusions in geologic thermometry” (American Mineralogist, 1947), and “Methods and problems of geologic thermometry” (Economic Geology, 1940). Many honors and accomplishments typify Ingerson’s outstanding career: Honorary Doctor of Science (Hardin-Simmons College, 1942), Day Medal (Geological Society of America, 1955), Distinguished Service Award (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1959), and the Distinguished Alumnus Award (Hardin-Simmons University, 1977). Ingerson was the founder of two major societies and their journals — The Geochemical Society and its publication, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, and the International Association of Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry and its journal Organic Geochemistry. In recognition of the important role he played in establishing these organizations, Earl Ingerson was asked to serve as the first president of each. He held membership, fellowship, and committee service in more than 35 professional societies in 13 nations.  D.8 - 6 Professor Ingerson taught physical geology and geochemistry at the upper division and graduate levels. He supervised nine MA and six PhD students. Although he retired in 1977, Professor Emeritus Ingerson remained active as an editor and counselor to several journals and geological societies until Alzheimer’s disease curtailed his activities. F. Earl Ingerson died on June 11, 1993, in Austin, Texas.