D.12.0 - 3004 Lafayette Avenue — original pdf

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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS JULY 26, 2021 PR-21-095546 3004 LAFAYETTE AVENUE D.12 – 1 PROPOSAL Demolish a ca. 1939 house. ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH One-story, wing-and-gable plan, frame cottage with synthetic siding; single 1:1 fenestration; partial-width inset porch on ornamental metal supports. The house was built in 1939 by Walter Staehely, a local insurance broker and real estate developer. The first owners and occupants were Clarence and Doris Johnson, who lived here until around 1943. Clarence Johnson was an accountant for the State Highway Department. From 1943 until 1952, the house was owned and occupied by Curtis and Gladys Johnson. Curtis Johnson is believed to have been the brother of Clarence Johnson. Curtis Johnson was an assistant auditor for Travis County for many years, starting with the office when there were only two employees. Curtis and Gladys Johnson then sold the house to a long-time widow, Thelma Weidlein, who had previously worked as a private secretary, but who had no occupation listed in the city directories; she lived here until her death in 1976. PROPERTY EVALUATION Designation Criteria—Historic Landmark 1) The building is more than 50 years old. 2) The building has had synthetic siding applied at an unknown date, which has compromised its integrity of materials. 3) Properties must meet two criteria for landmark designation (LDC §25-2-352). Staff has evaluated the property and determined that it does not meet two criteria, but would likely be contributing to a potential local historic district: a. Architecture. The building is a traditional type of house, fairly common for its late 1930s construction date; it does not appear to be architecturally significant. b. Historical association. The property was the home of a state accountant, an assistant county auditor, and a widow, none of whom appear to have had historical significance. c. Archaeology. The property was not evaluated for its potential to yield significant data concerning the human history or prehistory of the region. d. Community value. The property 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 reuse, then relocation over demolition, but release of the permit upon completion of a City of Austin Documentation Package, consisting of 8.5 x 11 photographs on photographic paper, a dimensioned sketch plan, and a narrative history for archiving at the Austin History Center. This house would likely be contributing to a local historic district in this neighborhood, and every consideration should be made for rehabilitation before demolishing the structure. LOCATION MAP D.12 – 2 PROPERTY INFORMATION 3004 Lafayette Avenue ca. 1939 D.12 – 3 Photo by Google Streetview, March 2019 OCCUPANCY HISTORY 3004 Lafayette Avenue City Directory Research, Austin History Center By City Historic Preservation Office June 2021 1959 Thelma Weidlein, owner No occupation listed 1957 Thelma Weidlein, owner No occupation listed 1955 Thelma Weidlein, owner No occupation listed 1953 Thelma Weidlein, owner Widow, W.W. Weidlein No occupation listed. NOTE: Curtis R. and Gladys Johnson are listed at 3305 Cherrywood Road; he was an assistant county auditor. 1952 Curtis R. and Gladys Johnson, owners Assistant county auditor NOTE: Thelma Weidlein is not listed in the directory. 1949 Curtis R. and Gladys Johnson, owners Assistant county auditor D.12 – 4 1947 Curtis R. and Gladys Johnson, owners Assistant county auditor 1944-45 Curtis R. and Gladys E. Johnson, owners Clerk, Travis County NOTE: Clarence B. and Doris Johnson are listed at 3103 East Avenue; he was an auditor at the State Highway Department. 1941 Clarence B. and Doris M. Johnson, owners Accountant, State Highway Department NOTE: Curtis Johnson is listed at 2800 French Place; he was an assistant in the County Auditor’s Office; Gladys E. Johnson is not listed in the directory. 1940 Vacant NOTE: Clarence B. and Doris M. Johnson are listed at 2800 Enfield Road; he was an accountant for the State Highway Department. 1939 The address is not listed in the directory. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: Clarence B. and Doris M. Johnson (ca. 1939 – ca. 1943) Clarence B. Johnson married Mona Doris Cank [sp?] in Bastrop County, Texas in July, 1932. The 1940 U.S. Census shows Clarence and Doris Johnson s the renters of this house. Curiously, the census report also shows people named Johnson living at 3002 and 3003 Lafayette Avenue; the house at 3002 was owned by Harry E. Johnson, but he was not old enough to be the patriarch of a possible Johnson clan here, although he is the only one listed as an owner. Clarence Johnson was 31, had been born in Texas, and was an accountant for the State Highway Department. Doris Johnson was 28, had been born in Texas, and had no occupation listed. They had a daughter, Donna Gail, 5, who had been born in Texas. His October, 1940 World War II draft registration card shows Clarence Behrendt Johnson living at this address. He was 6 feet tall, weighed 165 pounds, and a light complexion with brown hair and blue eyes. He was born in Manor, Texas in 1909 and worked for the State Highway Department. His 1973 death certificate shows that Clarence Berhandt Johnson was living at 3304 Hemlock in Austin at the time of his death in 1973. He was a men’s clothing salesman who had been born in Texas in 1909; his widow was Doris M. Johnson. D.12 – 5 Obituary of Clarence Johnson Austin American-Statesman, May 20, 1973 Doris M. “Mona Doris” Cook Johnson was born in Travis County in 1911 and died in Austin in 1996. Curtis R. and Gladys Johnson (ca. 1943 – ca. 1952) His 1940 World War II draft registration card shows that Curtis Raymond Johnson was living at 2800 French Place, his father’s home. He was born in Travis County, Texas and worked for the Travis County auditor. He was 5’-10.5” tall, weighed 150 pounds and had a light complexion with blond hair and blue eyes. He wore glasses. The 1940 U.S. Census shows Curtis Johnson as the son of C.B. and Ellen Johnson, who owned their home worth $6,000 at 2800 French Place. Curtis Johnson was 22, had been born in Texas and was a book-keeper for the county auditor’s office. His father, C.B. Johnson, 61, had been born in Sweden and was the owner of a farm. His mother, Ellen, 56, had been born in Texas and had no occupation listed. Curtis had a younger sister, La Verne 17, who had been born in Texas. The family lived in rural Travis County in 1935. His 1972 death certificate shows that Curtis Raymond Johnson was living at 1803 E. 39th Street at the time of his death. He was born in Texas in 1917 and was an assistant auditor for Travis County. His widow, Gladys Johnson, was born in 1918 and died in June, 1995. D.12 – 6 Story on the death of Curtis Johnson Austin Statesman, January 4, 1972 Note that his surviving brother is listed as Clarence D. Johnson, but was probably Clarence B. Johnson, the first owner of this house, and the person immediately preceding the occupancy of Curtis and Gladys Johnson. Clarence B. Johnson died a year later, in 1973. Thelma Weidlein (ca. 1952 – ca. 1976) Thelma Weidline appears in the 1930 U.S. Census as the wife of W.W. Weidline; they rented an apartment in Houston, Texas. W.W. Weidline was a 37-year old Kansas-born electrical supplies salesman; Thelma Weidline was 32, had been born in Texas to an Arkansas-born father and a Texas-born mother, and had no occupation listed. They had no children listed with them. D.12 – 7 The 1940 U.S. Census shows Thelma Weidlein living in the home of her brother, Thurber M. McCarty at 1607 E. 1st Street, a house he owned, and which was worth $3,000. Thelma Weidlein was a 42-year old Texas-born widow who worked as a private secretary to Charles E. Marsh. Her brother, Thurber M. McCarty, was a 45-year old Texas-born widower who was a conductor on the steam railroad. Also in the household was Betty G. McCarty, who is listed as a daughter, and is probably 13 years old, but the entry looks like she is 63; at any rate, she was born in Texas and had no occupation listed. Thurber and Thelma’s mother, Nettie A. McCarty is also in the household. She was a 68-year old widow who was born in Texas and had no occupation listed. Her 1976 death certificate shows that Thelma Dewey Weidlein was living at this address at the time of her death. She was born in 1898 in McDade, Texas, and was a widowed secretary for Charles E. Marsh, the proprietors of Newspapers, Inc. Death notice for Thelma Weidlein Austin American-Statesman, January 13, 1976 Classified ad for the sale of this house Austin Statesman, November 1, 1939 Building permit to Walter Staehely, local insurance man and developer, for the construction of this house (1939) D.12 – 8 Sewer service permit to Walter Staehely for this address (1939) Building permit to Thelma Weidlein, owner from ca. 1952 until her death in 1976, for the construction of a rear frame addition (1952)