D.2.0 - 1601 Brackenridge Street — original pdf

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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION MARCH 22, 2021 DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS PR-20-183612 1601 BRACKENRIDGE STREET D.2 - 1 PROPOSAL Demolish a ca. 1915 house. ARCHITECTURE One-and-a-half story, rectangular-plan, side-gabled frame Craftsman bungalow with a central, partial-width, front-gabled dormer; single, paired, and triple fenestration in 1:1, 6:1, and 9:1 patterns; exterior brick chimney. It appears that the original front porch of the house was infilled, and that the windows currently on the front of the house were the original windows before the porch was infilled. Staff has reviewed the structural report for the house. While there are significant structural issues, staff argues that the house can be salvaged. RESEARCH The house appears to have been built around 1915 by William M. and Lettie Webster Davis, both teachers at the Texas School for the Deaf. Lettie Webster Davis was originally from Grayson County, Texas, and moved to Austin around 1903. She first boarded with noted deaf teacher William H. Davis, at his home on Newning Avenue (a city historic landmark). She married William M. Davis, a teacher in the manual department of the deaf institute, in 1911, and four years later either built or moved in to this house on Brackenridge Street, where they lived until William passed away in 1947 after a close-to-40-year career in deaf education. After his death, Lettie Davis moved to a house on Oakland Avenue in West Austin, across the street from her family’s home, where her sisters still resided. Both William and Lettie Davis taught at the Deaf School during a time of great upheaval in the methods of teaching deaf students and successfully adapted their teaching methods accordingly. As educators moved away from sign language in favor of “oralism” - reliance on lip reading, many deaf teachers were replaced with hearing teachers. Students who did not succeed with the oralist approach to deaf education were sent to the “manual” department, where they were taught to spell with their fingers. Both William Davis and Lettie Webster Davis came from families that devoted their careers and lives to deaf education. Lettie Davis’ sister, Jessie Webster, was one of the longest-tenured instructors at the institution. After William M. Davis’ death, and Lettie Davis’ move back to her old neighborhood in West Austin, this house had a series of owner-occupants through the mid-1950s. Betsy Pinkerton opened Betsy’s Nursery School and Kindergarten in this house around 1955; it operated here until around 1970. Another nursery school and kindergarten, Gingerbread House, operated by Edyth S. Simpson, was located here until the house became a Montessori School in the mid-1980s. The house was used as a Montessori School until recently. STAFF COMMENTS The house is listed as contributing to the pending Travis Heights-Fairview Park National Register Historic District. 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:  D.2 - 2 a. Architecture. The house is an excellent example of an early Craftsman bungalow which retains a high degree of integrity. The front porch of the house has been filled in for additional living space, but it appears that this occurred during the historic period, and may have relocated windows from the front wall of the house to the new infilled wall; windows or vents in the central dormer have been covered with plywood, and the back of the house has been modified with a series of glass doors opening onto a back patio, deck, and play area. The house appears to meet the criterion for architectural significance. b. Historical association. The house was built by and was the long-time home of two prominent teachers at what is now the Texas School for the Deaf; there do 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 Recommend historic zoning. If the Commission instead votes to release the permit, then staff recommends the 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.  LOCATION MAP D.2 - 3  D.2 - 4 1601 Brackenridge Street ca. 1915 2011 photograph above; 2021 photographs below D.2 - 5 Photograph showing the north side of the house where the foundation has failed; the window has sagged, and much of the wood siding and window frames exhibit extensive rotting. OCCUPANCY HISTORY 1601 Brackenridge Street Montessori House of Children Ginger Logan, director Montessori House of Children Tom Logan, director City Directory Research, Austin History Center By City Historic Preservation Office November, 2011 1992 1985-86 1981 1977 1972 1969 Gingerbread House Nursery and Kindergarten Edyth S. Simpson, director Gingerbread House Nursery and Kindergarten Edyth S. Simpson, director Gingerbread House Nursery and Kindergarten Edyth Buddecke, director Betsy’s Nursery School and Kindergarten Betsy R. Pinkerton, director NOTE: There was also a Betsy’s Nursery School and Kindergarten at 1223 Corona Drive. Betsy’s Nursery School and Kindergarten Betsy Pinkerton, proprietor NOTE: Betsy Pinkerton had another Betsy’s Nursery School and Kindergarten at 1225 Corona Drive. D.2 - 6 Janice O’Brien, renter Baby sitter, Betsy’s Nursery School (Betsy Pinkerton, proprietor), 1601 Brackenridge Street. Louis L. and Elizabeth Bowen, owners Proprietor, Sanitary Barber Shop, 124 W. 5th Street. 1963 1958 1953 1949 1947 1944-45 1941 1939 1937 1935 1932-33 1930-31 1929 1927 1924 Mary Williamson, owner Widow, W.E. Williamson No occupation listed William M. and Lettie Davis, owners No occupation listed William M. and Lettie Davis owners No occupation listed William M. and Lettie W. Davis, owners Teacher William: Teacher, State School for the Deaf Lettie: William M. and Lettie R. Davis, owners William: Lettie: Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf William M. and Lettie Davis owners William: Lettie: Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf William M. and Lettie R. Davis, owners William: Lettie: Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf William M. and Lettie W. Davis, owners William: Lettie: Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf William M. and Lettie R. Davis, owners William: Lettie: Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf William M. and Lettie W. Davis, owners Teacher, State School for the Deaf William M. and Lettie R. Davis, owners William: Lettie: Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf William M. and Lettie W. Davis, owners D.2 - 7 1922 1920 1918 1916 1914 William: Lettie: Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf William M. and Lettie Davis, renters Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf William M. and Lettie W. Davis, owners Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf NOTE: Lettie Davis is not separately listed. William M. and Lettie Davis, owners William: Lettie: Teacher, High School, Texas School for the Deaf Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf William M. and Lettie R. Davis, owners Teacher, Texas School for the Deaf The address is not listed in the directory, NOTE: William M. Davis does not appear to be listed in the directory; however, Lettie Davis is listed as a teacher at the Texas School for the Deaf, and she lived on the campus at 1102 S. Congress Avenue. The same information holds true in the 1912-13 city directory, BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: William M. and Lettie Davis (ca. 1915 – ca. 1947) W.M. Davis married Lettie R. Webster in Travis County on June 14, 1911. W.M. and Lettie Webster Davis are noted in an article in the March 8, 1914 Austin Statesman as teachers at the Texas School for the Deaf. W.M. Davis was a teacher in the high school department; Lettie Webster Davis was a teacher in the primary department. His 1918 World War I draft registration card shows that William Martin Davis was living at this address at the time of his registration. He was born in 1874 and was a teacher at the State School for the Deaf. Lettie W. Davis was his wife. He was tall, and had a slender build; he had dark brown hair and light blue eyes. The draft registration card shows that he was deaf and dumb. William M. and Lillie [sic] Davis are listed as the owners of this house in the 1920 U.S. Census. William M. Davis was 44, had been born in Texas to a Mississippi-born father and an Alabama- born mother, and was a teacher at the School for the Deaf. Lillie [sic] Davis was 39, had been born in Texas to Alabama-born parents, and had no occupation listed. They had no children listed with them. The 1930 U.S. Census shows William M. and Kittie [sic] W. Davis as the owners of this house, which was worth $5,000. William M. Davis was 54, had been born in Texas to Alabama-born parents, and was a teacher at the Deaf School. Kittie [sic] W. Davis was 50, had been born in Missouri to a New York-born father and a Missouri-born mother, and was also a teacher at the Deaf School. They had no children listed with them. William Martin Davis was living in this house at the time of his death in 1947. He was born in 1875 in Hill County, Texas and was a retired teacher at the School for the Deaf.  D.2 - 8 Obituary of William M. Davis Austin Statesman, April 11, 1947 Obituary of Lettie Davis Austin American, January 4, 1967  D.2 - 9 Funeral notice for Lettie Davis Austin American, January 5, 1967 Water service permit for this address (1931) D.2 - 10 Sewer service permit for this address (1934) Building permit to L.L. Bowen for the construction of a frame garage (1951) D.2 - 11 Building permit to Betsy Pinkerton to remodel and repair the residence, to partition off the hot water heater from the bathroom (1962)  D.2 - 12 The house appears on the 1921 Sanborn map with a full-width front porch D.2 - 13 The 1935 Sanborn map shows the house with the full-width front porch and some changes to the rear of the house from the 1921 map above.  D.2 - 14 The 1962 Sanborn map shows the same configuration as the 1935 map above. It is therefore unclear when the front porch was filled in, as there is no permit history to do so. The fenestration on the enclosed porch may have come from the original front wall of the house as the windows are period-appropriate to the date of construction of the house.