04.0 - 6706 Bluff Springs Rd - Horton-Duval House — original pdf

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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS SEPTEMBER 3, 2025 HR-2025-102555; C14H-1977-0009 HORTON-DUVAL HOUSE 6706 BLUFF SPRINGS ROAD 4 – 1 PROPOSAL Deconstruct ruins of landmarked building destroyed by fire in 1996. PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS Due to serious life safety concerns, the Case Review & Escalations Division of the City of Austin Development Services Department seeks to remove the masonry remnants of the ca. 1852 building, destroyed by fire in 1996. Though the ruins were potentially salvageable after the initial fire, the thirty intervening years have led to deterioration beyond repair, and they now pose a significant hazard to pedestrians on the nearby sidewalk and people using the vacant land as temporary shelter. As the remaining masonry was quarried, hewn, and assembled by enslaved laborers from the nearby Sneed property, who later dwelt in the building, DSD staff propose respectful disassembly of the stonework and sustainable recycling, rather than removing the stones to a landfill. ARCHITECTURE Though the building was once an L-shaped vernacular residence with Greek Revival stylistic influences, few standing walls remain. See backup for images. DESIGN STANDARDS The City of Austin’s Historic Design Standards are based on the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and are used to evaluate projects at historic landmarks. Though the standards do not typically allow demolition of landmarked buildings, this unique case warrants an exception to the standards due to its extreme deterioration, decades of failed remediation, and imminent threat to public safety. PROPERTY EVALUATION As the property is also a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark,1 the Texas Historical Commission has performed a site visit and evaluation of the property (see backup), determining that the building no longer retains sufficient integrity to qualify for the RTHL program. Similarly, the property no longer possesses sufficient integrity to qualify as a local landmark. Stabilization attempts were made after the fire in 1996, though limited progress was made due to lack of funding (the owner had purchased the property at auction in 1992), and deterioration continued. COMMITTEE FEEDBACK As the building has suffered extreme deterioration and near entire loss of integrity, and now poses an imminent life safety hazard, respectful removal of what masonry remains is appropriate. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Approve the Certificate of Appropriateness in concurrence with Committee feedback and Texas Historical Commission response. Recommendations for mitigation measures include a revised state marker as well as archeological documentation, which would be the responsibility of the property owner. 1 Governor Horton Place, listed 1972: https://atlas.thc.texas.gov/Details?atlasnumber=5507015168 LOCATION MAP 4 – 2