D.3.0 - 3400 Hillview Road — original pdf

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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS AUGUST 23, 2021 PR-21-098969 3400 HILLVIEW ROAD D.3 – 1 PROPOSAL Demolish a ca. 1940 house. ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH Two-story, rectangular-plan, side-gabled brick veneered house with elements of Monterrey Revival style with its second- story, partial width screened porch across the front, and segmental-arched sunporch opening on the ground floor; single and paired 6:6 fenestration; single-leaf entry door with sidelights. The house features textured brick in subtle patterns. The house was built in 1940 by Whalen (or Wayland) C. Rivers and his wife, LaRuth, who lived here until around 1946. Wayland Rivers was an officer in the Elgin Standard Brick Company, manufacturers of high quality brick for residential and commercial construction in central Texas. Rivers was also in the grocery business before building this house in West Austin. The next owners and occupants were John W. and Dorothy Shivers, who lived here from around 1946 until around 1950. John W. Shivers was a timelock inspector for the Yale Lock Company for many years. Around 1953, the house was rented by W.J. Murray, Jr. and his wife, Josephine; they lived here until around 1958. Murray was a long-time employee of the Texas Railroad Commission, and had been in the oil business in Houston. He was serving as chair of the commission at the time that he and Jo rented this house. He came under scrutiny for the money he made while serving on the Commission, but was exonerated in 1963 of any wrongdoing. He was the first petroleum engineer to serve on the Commission, which oversees oil and gas regulations in Texas. PROPERTY EVALUATION The property is beyond the bounds of any City survey to date. Designation Criteria—Historic Landmark 1) The building is more than 50 years old. 2) The building appears to retain high integrity. 3) Properties must meet two criteria for landmark designation (LDC §25-2-352). Staff has evaluated the property and determined that it may meet two criteria: a. Architecture. The building is a good example of its architectural type, and is constructed in brick, which make it unusual – most houses of this type are frame. The house conveys architectural significance as a rare example of Monterrey style in Austin, and also, having been built by a principal in the Elgin Brick Company, contains some textured brick which adds to its possible architectural significance. b. Historical association. The house is associated with at least two prominent people in Austin’s history: Wayland C. Rivers, who was a principal in the Elgin Standard Brick and Tile Manufacturing Company at the time that he and his wife built this house and lived here in the early 1940s; Rivers also had several other prominent businesses in Austin the mid-20th century. W.J. Murray, Jr. the first petroleum engineer to serve on the Texas Railroad Commission, rented this house during the time he chaired the Commission in the mid-1950s. 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 Consider the applicant’s structural reports in light of whether the house meets the criteria for designation as a historic landmark. Staff believes that the house has architectural merit, and believes there is a case for historical significance as well, even though the prominent owners/occupants of this house only lived here for a relatively short period of time. If, however, the Commission votes to release the permit, then staff encourages 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 x 10 photographs of all elevations, printed on photographic paper, a dimensioned sketch plan, and a narrative history for archiving at the Austin History Center. D.3 – 2 LOCATION MAP D.3 – 3 PROPERTY INFORMATION 3400 Hillview Road ca. 1940 D.3 – 4 OCCUPANCY HISTORY 3400 Hillview Road City Directory Research, Austin History Center By City Historic Preservation Office June 2021 1959 1957 Vacant William J., Jr. and Josephine E. Murray, renters Chairman, State Railroad Commission William J., Jr. and Josephine Murray, renters Chairman, State Railroad Commission 1955 1952 1949 1947 Gray Thoran, owner NOTE: Neither Gray Thoran nor Thoran Gray is listed in the directory. NOTE: William J., Jr. and Jo N. Murray are listed at 3300 Windsor Road; he was a commissioner on the State Railroad Commission. NOTE: J.W. and Dorothy Shriver are listed at 3302 Jamesborough Drive; he was a time lock inspector. John W. and Dorothy L. Shriver, owners Timelock inspector Also listed are Ann Shriver and John W. Shriver, Jr., both students. John W. and Dorothy L. Shriver, owners Salesman, Yale & Towne (not listed in the directory) NOTE: Whalen C. and Luruth Rivers are listed at 3500 Enfield Road; neither had an occupation shown. D.3 – 5 Whalen C. and La Ruth Rivers, owners No occupation listed Whalen and LaRuth Rivers, owners Vice-president, Elgin Standard Brick & Tile Manufacturing Company, sales office 614 Lavaca Street. Whalen C. and LaRuth Rivers, owners Vice-president, Elgin Standard Brick and Tile Manufacturing Company, 614 Lavaca Street. NOTE: The house is listed as being on the north side of the street, 1 house north of Warren. 1944-45 1941 1940 1939 The address is not listed in the directory. NOTE: Whalen C. and La Ruth Rivers are listed at 1414 Newfield Lane; he was the vice- president of Elgin Standard Brick and Tile Manufacturing Company, Elgin, Texas. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: Whalen C. and La Ruth Rivers (ca. 1940 – ca. 1946) The 1940 U.S. Census shows Wayland and Luruth Rivers as the owners of this house, which shows an address of 3408 Hillview Road, and which was worth $14,000. Wayland C. Rivers was 52, had been born in Texas, and was the owner and manager of a farm and ranch. Luruth Rivers was 43, had been born in Texas, and had no occupation listed. They had a son, Wayland, Jr., 12, who had been born in Texas. Wayland Coates Rivers was born in Elgin Texas in 1888 and died in Austin in 1959. He was living at 3506 Enfield Road at the time of his death and was the chairman of the board and director of a brick manufacturing company and a bank. Luruth Smith Rivers was born in Elgin, Texas in 1896 and died in Austin in 1978. She was a widowed homemaker, living at 1801 Lavaca Street in Austin. John W. and Dorothy L. Shriver (ca. 1946 – ca. 1950) The 1940 U.S. Census shows John W. and Dorothy Shriver as the owners of a house worth $10,000 at 1414 Newfield Lane in Austin. John W. Shriver was 43 had been born in Tennessee, and was a time lock inspector for the Yale Lock Company. Dorothy Shriver was 30, had been born in Texas, and had no occupation listed. They had three children: Marie, 10, son Jonnie, 7, and Jack E., 5, all of whom had been born in Texas. Also within the household were Dorothy Shriver’s family, mother Annie Edgar, a 55-year old Texas-born widow who was the supervisor of sewing in a WPA Sewing Room , sister-in-law Mattalie Edgar, 20, a Texas-born stenographer for the State Planning Board; and brother-in-law Wiley Edgar, 18, a Teas-born kitchen helper at the Milam Cafeteria. All the member of the Shriver family had lived in Eustace, Texas in 1935. The Shrivers also had a lodger, James Frazier, 37, who had been born in Texas and was a social worker on the WPA Administration staff. He lived in Dallas in 1935. John Wesley Shriver was born in 1898 in Wartrace, Tennessee and died in Austin September 21, 1954. Dorothy Lee Shriver married Robert Elliot Bradley in Travis County in March, 1956. Dorothy Lee Shriver Wharton was born in 1909 in Eustace, Texas and died March 17, 1985 in Austin. D.3 – 6 Obituary of John W. Shriver Austin Statesman, September 22, 1954 William J., Jr. and Josephine Murray (ca. 1954 – ca. 1958) D.3 – 7 William J. Murray, Jr. considered for Texas Railroad Commission Austin American-Statesman, November 17, 1946 D.3 – 8 D.3 – 9 Portions of the news story on the exoneration of W.J. Murray Jr. of wrongdoing while serving on the Texas Railroad Commission Austin Statesman, June 19, 1963 The Murrays later built a home on Lake Austin that was written up in a society page in the Austin newspapers as a home for parties in 1960.