13.0 - 4523 Avenue B — original pdf

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13 – 1 HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS APRIL 2, 2025 PR-2025-026197; GF-2025-029887 4523 AVENUE B PROPOSAL Partially demolish and construct a second-floor addition to a ca. 1923 one-story house. PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS The proposed project removes a portion of the existing roof to construct a second-floor addition. Located approximately 12 feet from the front wall of the house, the addition is clad in horizontal fiber cement siding. It is roughly square in plan and capped with a hipped roof of similar slope to the existing roof. The proposed fenestration is regular in distribution and consists of 1:1 sash, casement, and fixed windows. ARCHITECTURE One-story masonry house with partial-width porch, pyramidal hipped roof with exposed rafter tails, and 1:1 arched windows and doors. RESEARCH Bricklayer and Swedish immigrant Axel Arnhamn constructed the home around 1923 after moving from a farm in Manor around 1919. Svenskarne i Texas i Ord Och Bild, 1838-1918 (Swedes in Texas in Words and Pictures, 1838-1918), compiled by Ernest Severin, describes the Swedish families immigrating to Texas over that period. Severin’s writeup on the Arnhamn family details their journey up to 1919: Among the emigrants who in recent years have come to New Sweden, Texas, and settled as farmers, is Axel Arnhamn. The son of master carpenter Anders William Arnhamn, he was born in Munkaljungby parish in Skåne in 1853 and came with his parents to Höja parish in 1859. He attended the parish's elementary school, then learned the bricklayer's trade from his uncle Wilson in Helsingborg, got America fever and landed in 1906 in the great city of New York. He worked there at his trade one year and then came to New Sweden to his sister and brother-in-law, Rev. Alfred L. Scott. He worked during his first years in New Sweden as a laborer. In later years he rented land and is at present farming Mrs. C.M. Nygren's beautiful homestead in New Sweden. He married Esther Larson in 1910. She was born in 1887 in Ljungarum parish, Småland, and emigrated in 1906 from Rogberga parish, the same county, to the United States, first coming to New Sweden, Texas, to her relatives the C.A. Gustafsons. The couple's sons, Fingal and Werner, were born in 1913 and 1917 … […] Uno Arnhamn emigrated to America in the fall of 1907 to his sister and brother-in-law, Pastor Alfred Scott in New Sweden. His traveling party from New York consisted of his brother Axel and his sister Agnes. Arriving at Manor, Texas, they hired a carriage to New Sweden and paid $7.00 for it. As it had been raining, the earth got stuck to the wheels, and the travelers Axel and Uno had to walk one on each side of the carriage and shovel off the sticking earth. Since his arrival Uno has spent most of his time working on the farm. He and his brother Axel were involved in a cyclone in Jones County, Texas, and escaped unharmed. He was in a raid against prairie wolves in northwest Texas and escaped unharmed. He is now enlisted in the vast army that the United States is to send against Germany, and we hope that Uno will recover even then. He is a member of the Lutheran church in New Sweden.1 The book further describes New Sweden as “one of the best-known Swedish communities in Texas…located about sixty miles north of Manor on a fertile, slightly hilly plain…this area, which is now adorned with over a hundred beautiful Swedish country estates, was uninhabited in the early 1870s, just a large plain, overgrown with cactus and mesquite bushes.”2 While it does not detail the Arnhamn family’s migration from New Sweden to Austin, it is clear from directory research that Axel Arnhamn returned to his trade as a bricklayer. According to deed records, Arnhamn purchased the property in 1922, and the ca. 1923 house at 4523 Avenue B is the only all-brick structure of its age in the area. The Arnhamn family remained in the home until Esther Arnhamn’s death in 1967. The house then passed to Marie Arnhamn Kilgore, who had lived there with her husband, Lee, in the 1940s and ‘50s while Lee was in the Navy and then transitioned to working at the Highway Department. Marie Kilgore worked as a bookkeeper and librarian. 1 Translated from: Svenskarne I Texas I Ord Och Bild, 1838-1918. Severin, Ernest, Ed. 1919. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/svenskarneitexas01seve/page/n785/mode/2up. 2 Ibid. DESIGN STANDARDS The City of Austin’s Historic Design Standards (March 2021) are based on the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and are used to evaluate projects at potential historic landmarks. The following standards apply to the proposed project: 13 – 2 Residential additions 1. Location The proposed addition is located roughly 12’ from the front wall of the house. 2. Scale, massing, and height The proposed addition’s massing is simple, and its height appropriate; however, its position atop the existing house make it appear larger in scale. 3. Design and style The proposed addition’s design and style are appropriate and differentiated from the existing house. 4. Roofs The proposed roof is compatible. 6. Windows, screens, and doors The proposed windows are compatible. 5. Exterior walls The proposed fiber cement siding is appropriate in style while differentiating old from new materials. Summary The project mostly meets the applicable standards. Moving the addition further from the front wall of the house would enhance its compatibility with the existing structure. PROPERTY EVALUATION The property was identified as individually eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and contributing to a potential local historic district in the 2020 University-Windsor-Hyde Park Survey. Designation Criteria—Historic Landmark 1) The building is more than 50 years old. 2) The building appears to retain high to moderate 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 for landmark designation: a. Architecture. The building is a good example of a vernacular building with National Folk influences. Its articulated windows, with segmental arches and projecting sills, appear to be the work of craftsman Axel Arnhamn. b. Historical association. The property is associated with the Arnhamn family, long-term occupants. Bricklayer Axel Arnhamn constructed the home around 1923. His family remained in the home until at least 1967 and are good examples of the demographic shifts and migration patterns of Swedish-born Texans to Austin. 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 appear to 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 Approve the application, strongly encouraging the applicant to move the addition at least 15’ from the front wall of the house, upon completion of a City of Austin Documentation Package. LOCATION MAP 13 – 3 PROPERTY INFORMATION Photos 13 – 4 Google Street View, March 2024 13 – 5 Permit application, 2025 Occupancy History City Directory Research, March 2025 Mrs. Esther Arnhamn, owner – widow of Axel Arnhamn Esther and Axel Arnhamn, owners Mrs. Marie C. and Lee Kilgore, renters – assistant librarian, public library and analyst, state highway dept. Axel H. and Esther Arnhamn, owners – brick mason Axel H. and Esther Arnhamn, owners – bricklayer Lee and Marie Kilgore, renter – analyst, State Highway Department 1944-45 Axel H. and Esther Arnhamn, owners – brick mason Vernon and Marie Arnhamn, renters – US Navy Lee and Marie Kilgore, renters – analyst, State Highway Department and manager, Remington-Rand Inc. Axel H. and Esther Arnhamm, owners – bricklayer A.H. Arnhamn, owner A.H. Arnhamn, owner 4523 not listed. Arnhamms listed at 4513 Avenue B: Axel H. and Esther Arnhamm, owners – bricklayer Fingel R. Arnhamm, renter – baker, Southwest Baking Co. Axel and Esther Arnhamn Axel and Esther Arnhamn, owners – bricklayer Address not listed. Axel and Esther Arnhamn are listed as living in Manor, TX, in The Statesman.3 1959 1952 1949 1947 1941 1939 1935 1932-33 1927 1924 1922 3 The Statesman (1916-1921); Austin, Tex.. 31 Aug 1919: 7 Historical Information 13 – 6 1935 Sanborn map showing masonry exterior The Statesman (1916-1921); Austin, Tex.. 31 Aug 1919: 7. The Austin American (1914-1973); Austin, Tex.. 10 May 1936: A4. The Austin American (1914-1973); Austin, Tex.. 30 June 1940: A5. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 09 Dec 1942: 5. Ancestrylibrary.com. “Texas, U.S., Death Certificates, 1903-1982 - AncestryLibrary.com,” 2021. 13 – 7 Ancestrylibrary.com. “Texas, U.S., Death Certificates, 1903-1982 - AncestryLibrary.com,” 2021. Finch, Lena. Elgin Courier and Four County News (Elgin, Tex.), Vol. 66, No. 26, Ed. 1, September 13, 1956; Elgin, Texas. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 17 Mar 1958: 15. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 30 May 1967: 10. 13 – 8 Severin, Ernest, 1871-; Scott, Alf. L. (Alfred L.), 1862-; Westerberg, T. J. (Thor Julius), 1874- & Öjerholm, J. M. (John Melcher), 1858-. Svenskarne I Texas I Ord Och Bild, 1838-1918: Volume 1, book, 1919; [Austin, Texas]. University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting McCulloch County Historical Commission. Permits 13 – 9 Sewer Tap Permit, November 3, 1923