09 C14H-2024-0100 - Splawn-Green House; District 9 Staff Report — original pdf

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CASE NUMBER: C14H-2024-0100 HLC DATE: August 7, 2024 PC DATE: September 10, 2024 CC Date: TBD ZONING CHANGE REVIEW SHEET APPLICANT: Steve Wilson (owner-initiated) HISTORIC NAME: Splawn-Green House WATERSHED: Boggy Creek ZONING CHANGE: SF-3-NP to SF-3-NP-H COUNCIL DISTRICT: 9 ADDRESS OF PROPOSED ZONING CHANGE: 3311 Lafayette Avenue STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the proposed zoning change from family residence-neighborhood plan (SF-3-NP) to family residence-neighborhood plan-historic landmark (SF-3-H-NP) combining district zoning. QUALIFICATIONS FOR LANDMARK DESIGNATION: architecture and historical associations. HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION ACTION: Grant the proposed zoning change from family residence- neighborhood plan (SF-3-NP) to family residence-neighborhood plan-historic landmark (SF-3-H-NP) combining district zoning. (10-0) PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: CITY COUNCIL ACTION: CASE MANAGER: Kalan Contreras, 512-974-2727 NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATIONS: Austin Independent School District, Austin Lost and Found Pets, Austin Neighborhoods Council, Cherrywood Neighborhood Assn., Del Valle Community Coalition, Friends of Austin Neighborhoods, Homeless Neighborhood Association, Neighborhood Empowerment Foundation, Neighbors United for Progress, Preservation Austin, SELTexas, Sierra Club, Austin Regional Group, Upper Boggy Creek Neighborhood Planning Team DEPARTMENT COMMENTS: The 2020 North Loop-Hancock-Boggy Creek Historic Resource Survey lists the property as a medium priority for preservation. BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATION: § 25-2-352(3)(c)(i) Architecture. The property embodies the distinguishing characteristics of a recognized architectural style, type, or method of construction; exemplifies technological innovation in design or construction; displays high artistic value in representing ethnic or folk art, architecture, or construction; represents a rare example of an architectural style in the city; serves as an outstanding example of the work of an architect, builder, or artisan who significantly contributed to the development of the city, state, or nation; possesses cultural, historical, or architectural value as a particularly fine or unique example of a utilitarian or vernacular structure; or represents an architectural curiosity or one-of-a-kind building. The property at 3311 Lafayette Avenue is a good example of a vernacular building type showcasing the transition between more formal stylistic choices of the nineteenth century to the unique Austin interpretation of the National Folk and Craftsman bungalows of the early twentieth century. Furthermore, the house’s twin—now located on East 46th Street—has already been recognized for its architectural significance; the house at 3311 Lafayette Avenue remains markedly more intact. “Architecturally,” remarks author Steve Wilson in his home’s historic zoning application, “this house is a distinctive and well-preserved missing link in the development of the bungalow style in Austin. It’s an invaluable key to understanding how the form supplanted the traditional Victorian in the city. The home’s unique historical association with an existing landmark, the Pearce-Anderson House, furthers that understanding.”1 The historic zoning application describes the home’s architectural “rediscovery” and takes a nuanced look at the home’s impressive integrity: Sometime between 1909 and 1910, sisters Maude and Alma Jones built twin houses side-by-side on lots butting up against the University of Texas. These identical homes on the 2500 block of Wichita Street shared a distinctive look that remained unchanged over time, even after new owners moved them to different spots four decades later. They were unique constructions blending the traditional Victorian with the emerging bungalow that would soon dominate 1 Wilson, Steve. “Historical Narrative: 3311 Lafayette Avenue.” Historic zoning application, 2024. Austin—a hybrid so nice, they did it twice. The city deemed this transitionary style special enough to earn Alma’s home historic zoning status as the Pearce-Anderson House in 1994 (C14H-1994-0010), even though that structure underwent an initial relocation, a nearly fatal lapse into disrepair, significant reconstruction, and yet another relocation (to 809 E. 46th St.). By contrast, Maude’s home was only moved once (to 3311 Lafayette Ave.), and its successive owners maintained the obscure abode with diligent care. As the Pearce-Anderson House endured the vicissitudes of disrepair, extensive replacement parts, and two traumatic relocations, Maude’s house floated through time in undisturbed anonymity. Profiles of the Pearce-Anderson House refer to Maude [Jones]’s home as lost to history. [The current property owners aim] to reclaim that history by [applying] for historic zoning…like its twin, the house has retained the integrity of the design, materials, workmanship, and feeling of the original, a look that has already earned the Pearce-Anderson Home landmark status in its own right. […] As the forgotten duplicate of an existing landmark, Maude Jones’s house is the missing half of a story with regional relevance. Reuniting these separated siblings in a “family reunion” will restore an essential Central Texas narrative that’s been lost for far too long. 2 § 25-2-352(3)(c)(ii) Historical Associations. The property has long-standing significant associations with persons, groups, institutions, businesses, or events of historical importance that contributed significantly to the history of the city, state, or nation or represents a significant portrayal of the cultural practices or the way of life of a definable group of people in a historic time. The Splawn-Green House is important not only for its historical associations with notable occupants Walter Splawn and Annie Lou Green, but also for its association with Austin’s shifting development patterns: as the “missing half” of a pair of important structures on a journey through time and down the street, the home’s story is a uniquely Austin tale that exemplifies the growth, upheaval, and rebirth of the city during the twentieth century. The house at 3311 Lafayette Avenue is a remarkable example of how Austin’s residents and its built environment changed and adapted to suit the demands of the growing University of Texas and the expansion of Interstate Highway 35, and how determined Austinites overcame the effects of racially restrictive covenants to uplift their communities. Sisters Maude and Alma Jones purchased adjacent lots in the Raymond & Whitis Subdivision in 1908. Though they built matching homes there, Maude rented hers out rather than living there, and eventually sold the house—then addressed as 2511 Wichita Street—to her sister. Alma Jones continued to rent the property to those in need of housing near the University of Texas, including two-year tenant Walter Marshall William Splawn. “Nationally renowned economist [Splawn] lived in the house in the early 1920s, just before he became the ninth president of the University of Texas,” notes author Steve Wilson. “He moved on to help shape New Deal policy on the national stage, most notably as a long-time commissioner of the Interstate Commerce Commission and advisor to Senator Sam Rayburn.”3 After Splawn’s tenancy, Alma Jones sold both houses to the University of Texas, who used them as rental properties for both students and local professionals until the 1940s. In his history of the home, Wilson describes the home’s journey during the postwar years, as well as its historical association with its first true long-term resident owner, Annie Lou Green: By the late 1940s, the university needed more room for parking, and the Jones homes stood in the way. Rather than demolish the structures, the school sold them to different owners. Carpenter Frank Patton scooped up Maude’s house on Lot 6 and moved it to…the other side of the highway [in the] Upland Addition, [owned by] big-time cotton buyer and one-time city council member D.C. Reed...Horrifically enough, he laid out an emphatically racist set of covenants [forbidding Black residents] from owning or occupying homes there. Widowed housekeeper Annie Lou Green…bought the place and moved in circa 1970. Demographically speaking, Green, a Black woman, bucked a greater demographic trend [in this decade] …by putting down roots for nearly thirty years, becoming a beloved fixture of the neighborhood in the process. Though D.C. Reed’s racist covenants had been ignored and forgotten by this point, it’s inspiring to think about how Green’s long tenure as an anchor of the community completely debunked the hateful and brutally ignorant premise on which those destructive rules were built….4 PARCEL NO.: 0214110206 LEGAL DESCRIPTION: LOT 6 BLK 1 OLT 30 DIV C UPLAND ADDN ESTIMATED ANNUAL TAX EXEMPTION (homestead, capped): AISD COA TC $3,500 $2,500 $2,094.49 $692.25 TC Health Total $8,786.75 2 Wilson, Steve. 2024. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. APPRAISED VALUE: Land: $446,250; Improvement: $636,246; Total: $1,082,496 PRESENT USE: Residence DATE BUILT/PERIOD OF SIGNIFICANCE: 1909; 1909-1974 INTEGRITY/ALTERATIONS: High. The house was relocated within the period of significance, which does not affect its integrity; the relocation of the house is part of its historic importance and helps to tell the story of Austin and the University of Texas expansion. A 2023 extension of the existing screened porch to the back of the house maintains the look and feel of the original. PRESENT OWNERS: Steve Wilson and Erin Mayes ORIGINAL OWNER(S): Gertrude Whitis OTHER HISTORICAL DESIGNATIONS: None   City of Austin - Historic Preservation Office Historic Zoning Application Packet A. APPLICATION FOR HISTORIC ZONING PROJECT INFORMATION: DEPARTMENTAL USE ONLY APPLICATION DATE:__________________ FILE NUMBER(S) _____________________________________________ TENTATIVE HLC DATE: TENTATIVE PC or ZAP DATE:_________________ TENTATIVE CC DATE:_________________ CASE MANAGER _______________________________ APPLICATION ACCEPTED BY:________________________________________ BASIC PROJECT DATA: CITY INITIATED: YES / NO ROLLBACK: YES/NO 1. OWNER’S NAME:________________________________________________________________________________ 2. PROJECT NAME:________________________________________________________________________________ 3. PROJECT STREET ADDRESS (or Range): __________________________________________________________ ZIP__________________________ COUNTY:______________________________________ IF PROJECT ADDRESS CANNOT BE DEFINED ABOVE: LOCATED ____________ FRONTAGE FEET ALONG THE N. S. E. W. (CIRCLE ONE) SIDE OF ______________________________________ (ROAD NAME PROPERTY FRONTS ONTO), WHICH IS APPROXIMATELY _______________________________________ DISTANCE FROM ITS INTERSECTION WITH _________________________________________ CROSS STREET. AREA TO BE REZONED: 4. ACRES _________________ (OR) 5. ZONING AND LAND USE INFORMATION: EXISTING ZONING __________ __________ __________ EXISTING USE __________ __________ __________ TRACT# (IF MORE THAN 1) ________ ________ ________ RELATED CURRENT CASES: (YES / NO) 6. ACTIVE ZONING CASE? 7. RESTRICTIVE COVENANT? (YES / NO) (YES / NO) 8. SUBDIVISION? (YES / NO) 9. SITE PLAN? SQ.FT._______________ ACRES / SQ. FT. _______________ _______________ _______________ PROPOSED USE _____________ _____________ _____________ PROPOSED ZONING ____________ ____________ ____________ FILE NUMBER: ______________________________________ FILE NUMBER: ______________________________________ FILE NUMBER: ______________________________________ FILE NUMBER: ______________________________________ Adopted December 2012 6  City of Austin - Historic Preservation Office Historic Zoning Application Packet 10a. SUBDIVISION REFERENCE: Name: _____________________________________________________________ Block(s) ______________________ Lot(s )___________________ Outlot(s) _____________________ Plat Book: _________________________________Page Number:_________________________________ PROPERTY DESCRIPTION (SUBDIVISION REFERENCE OR METES AND BOUNDS): DEED REFERENCE CONVEYING PROPERTY TO PRESENT OWNER AND TAX PARCEL I.D.: 10b. METES AND BOUNDS (Attach two copies of certified field notes if subdivision reference is not available or zoning includes partial lots) 11. VOLUME:_______________PAGE:______________ TAX PARCEL I.D. NO. _____________________________ OTHER PROVISIONS: OWNERSHIP TYPE: OWNER INFORMATION: 12. IS PROPERTY IN A ZONING COMBINING DISTRICT / OVERLAY ZONE? YES / NO TYPE OF COMBINING DIST/OVERLAY ZONE (NCCD,NP, etc)____________________________________ 13. LOCATED IN A LOCAL OR NATIONAL REGISTER HISTORIC DISTRICT? YES / NO 14. IS A TIA REQUIRED? YES / NO (NOT REQUIRED IF BASE ZONING IS NOT CHANGING) TRIPS PER DAY:_____________________________ TRAFFIC SERIAL ZONE(S):_________________ ________________ _________________ ________________ 15. ___SOLE ___COMMUNITY PROPERTY ___PARTNERSHIP ___CORPORATION ____TRUST If ownership is other than sole or community property, list individuals/partners/principals below or attach separate sheet. 16. OWNER CONTACT INFORMATION SIGNATURE:_______________________________________ NAME: _______________________________________ FIRM NAME:___________________________________________ TELEPHONE NUMBER: ______________________ STREET ADDRESS: _______________________________________________________________________________ CITY: ______________________________ STATE: _______________ ZIP CODE: ____________________________ EMAIL ADDRESS: _ ________________________________________________________________ AGENT INFORMATION (IF APPLICABLE): 17. AGENT CONTACT INFORMATION SIGNATURE:______________________________________ NAME: ________________________________________ FIRM NAME:_____________________________________________TELEPHONE NUMBER: ___________________ STREET ADDRESS:_______________________________________________________________________________ CITY: ______________________________ STATE: _______________ ZIP CODE: ___________________________ CONTACT PERSON:_____________________________________ TELEPHONE NUMBER: __________________ EMAIL ADRESS: _________________________________________________________________________________ Adopted December 2012 7  City of Austin - Historic Preservation Office Historic Zoning Application Packet D. SUBMITTAL VERIFICATION AND INSPECTION AUTHORIZATION SUBMITTAL VERICATION My signature attests to the fact that the attached application package is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge. I understand that proper City staff review of this application is dependent upon the accuracy of the information provided and that any inaccurate or inadequate information provided by me/my firm/etc., may delay the proper review of this application. PLEASE TYPE OR PRINT NAME BELOW SIGNATURE AND INDICATE FIRM REPRESENTED, IF APPLICABLE. __________________________________________________ Signature Date __________________________________________________ Name (Typed or Printed) __________________________________________________ Firm (If applicable) INSPECTION AUTHORIZATION As owner or authorized agent, my signature authorizes staff to visit and inspect the property for which this application is being submitted. PLEASE TYPE OR PRINT NAME BELOW SIGNATURE AND INDICATE FIRM REPRESENTED, IF APPLICABLE. ___________________________________________________ Date Signature ___________________________________________________ Name (Typed or Printed) ___________________________________________________ Firm (If applicable) Adopted December 2012 8  City of Austin - Historic Preservation Office Historic Zoning Application Packet E. ACKNOWLEDGMENT FORM concerning Subdivision Plat Notes, Deed Restrictions, Restrictive Covenants and / or Zoning Conditional Overlays for subdivision plat notes, deed I, ________________________________________ have checked restrictions, (Print name of applicant) restrictive covenants and/or zoning conditional overlays prohibiting certain uses and/or requiring certain development restrictions i.e. height, access, screening etc. on this property, located at ______________________________________________________________________________________ (Address or Legal Description) ______________________________________________________________________________________ If a conflict should result with the request I am submitting to the City of Austin due to subdivision plat notes, deed restrictions, restrictive covenants and/or zoning conditional overlays it will be my responsibility to resolve it. I also acknowledge that I understand the implications of use and/or development restrictions that are a result of a subdivision plat notes, deed restrictions, restrictive covenants and/or zoning conditional overlays. I understand that if requested, I must provide copies of any and all subdivision plat notes, deed restrictions, restrictive covenants and/or zoning conditional overlay information which may apply to this property. _______________________________________ ________________________________ (Applicant's signature) (Date) Adopted December 2012 9 City of Austin - Historic Preservation Office Historic Zoning Application Packet F. 1: Historical Documentation - Deed Chronology Deeds for 2511 Wichita, Lot 6, Outlot 17, Division D (original house location) Transaction Gertrude Whitis to Alfred Smith Lot No. 6, Block 8, Raymond & Whitis Subdivision March 22, 1895 Alfred Smith to James Clark Lot No. 6, Block 8, Raymond & Whitis Subdivision June 23, 1905 Robert A. Richey to Maude S. Jones Lot No. 6, Block 8, Raymond & Whitis Subdivision Dec. 23, 1908 Vol./Page Book 117, pg. 632 Book 198, pg. 400 Book 232, pg. 457 [Lot 6 willed to Alma S. Jones in 1914 or 1915] Alma S. Jones to University of Texas Lot No. 6, Block 8, Raymond & Whitis Subdivision April 1, 1923 Book 345, pgs. 323-324 University of Texas to Frank Patton Lot No. 6, Block 8, Raymond & Whitis Subdivision 1949 [Unable to find record] Deeds for 3311 Lafayette Ave., Outlot , Division C (Transplanted home location) Transaction Vol./Page Upland Addition Covenants by D.C. Reed Aug. 24, 1940 / Sept. 24, 1940 Vol. 654, pgs. 331 Vol. 659, pgs. 336-337 Frank Patton contracts D.W. Stephens to move home Nov. 1, 1949 Vol. 900, pg. 305 D.C. Reed to Hugh and Gladys Nelson Lot 6, Block 1, Upland Addition Oct. 14, 1945 Hugh Nelson to Frank Patton Lot 6, Block 1, Upland Addition Oct. 31, 1949 Frank Patton to Bessie Menem Lot 6, Block 1, Upland Addition March 1, 1954 Bessie Menem to M.N. Menem Lot 6, Block 1, Upland Addition Aug. 30, 1954 M.N. Menem to William and Mary Swenson Lot 6, Block 1, Upland Addition July 27, 1955 Mary Swenson to Annie Lou Green Lot 6, Block 1, Upland Addition Sept. 22, 1969 Annie Lou Green to Nathan Breazeale Lot 6, Block 1, Upland Addition Aug. 31, 1998 Vol. 821, pg. 479 Vol. 1004, pgs. 433-434 Vol. 1438, pg. 72 Vol. 1490, pgs. 73-74 Vol. 1602, pg. 128 Vol. 3753, pg. 738 Vol. 13259, pg. 01554 Nathan Breazeale to Erin Mayes and Steve Wilson Lot 6, Block 1, Upland Addition Sept. 28, 2001 Inst. 2001164808TR City of Austin - Historic Preservation Office Historic Zoning Application Packet F. 2: Historical Documentation - Occupancy History Occupancy History for 2511 Wichita / 3311 Lafayette Ave. Year 1910-11 1912-16 1917 1918-19 1920-22 1923 1924-26 1927-31 1932-40 1941 1942 1943-47 1948 1949 2551 Wichita Occupant Name and Reference Charles McNeill, gen. sec. UT’s YMCA Samuel M. Ashby, realtor No listing Tennessee Harris, widow (widow Edward R) Walter MW Splawn, prof of economics, UT (later UT president) No listing Joe Gray, student nurse; Jos L Gray Maud M Brown Eva Brown, teacher, Pease Elementary Vacant Mamie or Nannie Patterson (widow of JJH Patterson) Parrie D. “Louise” Robbins, clerk, TX sec. of state (widow WL Robbins) No directory available Vacant 3311 Lafayette Ave. State Highway Dept.; Weldon Needham, student Frank J Patton, carpenter Elbert O. Dowden, salesman, Monroe Calculating Machines William R. Needham, clerk State School; Kathleen J. Needham, clerk, 1949-52 1953-56 1957-58 1959 1960 1961 1962-69 1970-1998 Annie Lou Powell Green (widow W Green), clerk at Newberry’s, later 1999-2000 Nathan Breazeale, orthopedic surgeon 2001- C. Ralph Hammond, manager, Bray & Jordan Pharmacy Douglas R. Mather, salesman, Capital Chevrolet Vacant Raymond L. Sansom, painter housekeeper to investor Gatewood Newberry (at least until 1992) Erin Mayes, graphic designer, and Steve Wilson, writer HISTORICAL NARRATIVE MAUDE AND ALMA: A LANDMARK SISTER ACT Sometime between 1909 and 1910, sisters Maude and Alma Jones built twin houses side- by-side on lots butting up against the University of Texas. These identical homes on the 2500 block of Wichita Street shared a distinctive look that remained unchanged over time, even after new owners moved them to different spots four decades later. They were unique constructions blending the traditional Victorian with the emerging bungalow that would soon dominate Austin —a hybrid so nice, they did it twice. The city deemed this transitionary style special enough to earn Alma’s home historic zoning status as the Pearce-Anderson House in 1994 (C14H-1994-0010), even though that structure underwent an initial relocation, a nearly fatal lapse into disrepair, significant reconstruction, and yet another relocation (to 809 E. 46th St.). By contrast, Maude’s home was only moved once (to 3311 Lafayette Ave.), and its successive owners maintained the obscure abode with diligent care. As the Pearce-Anderson House endured the vicissitudes of disrepair, extensive replacement parts, and two traumatic relocations, Alma’s house floated through time in undisturbed anonymity. We’d like to reclaim that history by submitting the house for historical zoning. The property meets at least two criteria for landmark status: workmanship, and feeling of the original, a look that has already earned the Pearce-Anderson Home landmark status in its own right. (ii) Historical Association: Nationally renowned economist Walter Splawn lived in the house in the early 1920s, just before he became the ninth president of the University of Texas. He moved on to help shape New Deal policy on the national stage, most notably as a long-time commissioner of the Interstate Commerce Commission and advisor to Senator Sam Rayburn. house is the missing half of a story with regional relevance. Reuniting these separated siblings in a family reunion will restore an essential Central Texas narrative that’s been lost for far too long. (i) Architecture: Like its twin, the house has retained the integrity of the design, materials, (ii) Historical Association II: As the forgotten duplicate of an existing landmark, Maude’s Various profiles of the Pearce-Anderson House refer to Maude’s home as lost to history. UNDER ONE ROOF: WOMEN’S RIGHTS, CIVIL RIGHTS, NEW DEAL ECONOMICS Maude S. Jones, listed in historical records as an art teacher, bought Lot 6, Block 8 of the Raymond & Whitis Subdivision from Robert S. Richey in 1908. Her sister, Alma, bought Lot 5 next door the same year. Annoyingly enough, neither house—or the entire 2500 block of Wichita Street for that matter—appears on early editions of Sanborn maps until 1935. However, it’s a safe bet that the entrepreneurial Jones sisters built their houses between 1909 and 1910, considering the tax value of the Wichita properties blew up from $700 in 1909 to $1,700 in 1910, according to Austin City Lot Registers records. By 1911, the city directory Maude doesn’t seem to have lived in her house, but rather with her father, J.H. Jones, a Alma kept on renting 2511 Wichita alongside her own home. Perhaps the most notable of By the late 1940s, the university needed more room for parking, and the Jones homes stood started listing tenants at both addresses. By 1935, each house begins to appear on Sanborn editions. “stockman,” as the city directory put it. Maude’s listed as a resident of his home at 1805 Colorado Street in city directories from 1903 to 1905. The 1912-13 directory describes Maude as an art teacher still living with pops two years after she built the house. Though the name Alma never appears in print as a resident at the Colorado Street home with Maude, it’s not a stretch to assume they were in fact sisters. The 1910 U.S. Census details J. H. Jones, a 75-year-old widower, living at 1805 Colorado with family members Maude, Birdie Jones, and Mary Ann Lockridge, all described as daughters. Birdie, listed in 1910 as an art teacher like Maude, may have been a nickname for Alma. In any event, when Maude died around 1914 or 1915, she willed the house on Lot 6 to Alma. these tenants was future University of Texas president and nationally prominent New Deal economist Walter Marshall William Spawn. (See below for more on Splawn.) In 1923, Alma sold both houses to the University of Texas (Travis County Deed Records Volume 232:457), which used Alma’s house on Lot 5 as a women’s residence hall, according to an undated university housing list. Maude’s house next door rented to a more varied series of tenants, including an elementary school teacher and a student nurse. in the way. (Years later, the university would build the Natural and Molecular Science Building in that space.) Rather than demolish the structures, the school sold them to different owners. Carpenter Frank Patton scooped up Maude’s house on Lot 6 and moved it to another Lot 6 on the other side of the highway: Lot 6, Block 1, Upland Addition. owned the Upland Addition. Horrifically enough, he laid out an emphatically racist set of neighborhood covenants in Vol. 654, pg. 331 that specifically forbade Black people from owning or occupying homes there. He sold Lot 6 to Hugh and Gladys Nelson in 1945, who in turn sold the land to Patton after he purchased Maude’s home on Oct. 31, 1949. The next day, Patton hired a contractor to move the home, and there it remained at 3311 Lafayette Ave. Following in the tradition of the Jones sisters, the home’s next three owners after Patton didn’t live in the house, but rented it out to assorted tenants. Widowed housekeeper Annie Lou Green bucked this trend when she bought the place and moved in circa 1970. Demographically speaking, Green, a Black woman, bucked a greater demographic trend playing out all over East Austin. As other Black people started leaving the area in this decade, Green did the opposite by putting down roots for nearly thirty years, becoming a beloved fixture of the neighborhood in the process. Though D.C. Reed’s racist covenants had been ignored and forgotten by this point, it’s inspiring to think about how Green’s long tenure as an anchor of the community completely debunked the hateful and brutally ignorant premise on which those destructive rules were built. As Green sought to simplify her remaining days (she died in 2004 at age 84), she sold the home in 1998 to an orthopedic surgeon named Nathan Breazeale, who spruced it up while living there before selling it to graphic designer Erin Mayes and writer Steve Wilson in 2001. They’ve owned and lived in the property ever since. As of August 24, 1940, big-time cotton buyer and one-time city council member D.C. Reed “EXSPLAWNING” WALTER MARSHALL WILLIAM SPLAWN (June 16, 1883–January 17, 1963) A professor of economics when he lived at Maude’s house from 1920-1922, Walter MW As the ninth UT president, Splawn oversaw the investment of a recent financial windfall Splawn would soon ascend to a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission and then to the presidency of the University of Texas in 1924. Endearingly, he was the school’s second choice for the job. when the school discovered large reserves of oil in its West Texas lands. Splawn also developed the university’s graduate school during a tenure that lasted until 1927. That same year, he moved on to the national stage as a referee on the War Claims Commission and chairman of the Board of Arbitration of Western Railroads and Group of Employees. Stepping into the role of graduate school dean at American University from 1929 to 1934, Splawn also moonlit as a special counsel to the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce of the House of Representatives. In that latter role, he aided in Interstate Commerce Commission regulation, regulatory statutes on securities, and the passage of 1934’s Federal Communications Act. Splawn became prominent in New Deal policy circles as Senator Sam Rayburn’s go-to consultant on House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee matters. This work made him a shoe-in for a 19-year seat on the Interstate Commerce Commission that began in 1934. Failing eyesight and eventual blindness didn’t stop Splawn from fulfilling his commissioner duties and writing several works on economics and public-utility regulation. He died in 1963 in Washington, D.C. and was buried in Lincoln, Virginia, with his wife, Zola, with whom he’d been married since July 21, 1912. HOW TWO GREAT TASTES CAME TOGETHER The house sits in the Cherrywood Subdivision. A vital part of East Austin, the neighborhood has undergone much change in recent years, with many original homes torn down for new builds, several of them in modern styles divergent from the traditional character of the neighborhood. Fewer and fewer original houses stand in an area undergoing constant renovation. The house faces Lafayette Ave., positioned closer to the front of the lot than the back. A number of factors have conspired to make the front facade visible from every angle. On the northern approach, Lafayette slopes dramatically downhill, heightening the optical effect of 3311 rising above the bungalow on one side and the empty backyard on the other. From the front, a slender pecan tree, an adolescent burr oak, and a photinia shrub hardly make a dent in the visibility. The backyard contains an ADU built in 2006 to mirror the style of the house up front. Wooden fencing encloses the space all around, partially obscuring the view of multiple lots from 34th St. and curvy Kern Ramble that abut the space in a pie formation. Bungalow before It was Bungalow The building has a moderate-pitch (ca. 30 degrees) hipped roof. The original wood shingles The house has kept its original front door, which sits off-center to the north behind a screen The house exterior has horizontal, false-beveled, drop siding (1x5), its corners accented The outside of the home showcases one of the earliest examples of the emerging craftsman or bungalow style style, with a few significant callbacks to the Victorian that preceded it. A full facade integrated front porch dominates the building’s front elevation, with paired square wooden columns resting on pedestals. The floor of the front porch is made from tongue- and-groove 1x3 boards laid parallel to the axis of the house. The columns support a false beam with 1x12 lapped exterior siding and vertical channel siding on the interior. A concrete sidewalk leads from the street to the concrete steps that rise to the front porch. have been replaced with other roofing material over the years. The latest of these roofs, one of brown metal, has lasted since 2007. A hipped dormer juts out on the front elevation just under the roof, an original feature, as are the identical dormers on the north and south. The original fixed windows on those dormers have been replaced with modern ones that open. A channeled siding soffit (parallel to the wall line) covers a boxed eave with a broad overhang of 2 feet 10 inches. with 1x4 trim. An upper molding segment and two wide, lapped frieze boards make up the cornice trim below the box eave. The total fascia height (soffit to base) is 1.8 feet. The total exterior wall height, soffit to water table, is 11.5 feet. door made by an East Side artist. This front door is glazed with a single wood panel and has 12- panel matching sidelights as well as an overhead light complex with a transom in the center. windows line the north side of the building: one large 12/1 at the front, two tall windows connected by a multi-paned fixed sash window, and two smaller windows at the back. All of these windows are the originals built with the house. from the main mass of the house one foot from ground to roof (matching a parallel outset on the south side). This makes a subtle cruciform shape to an otherwise rectangular building, breaking the wall lines along the longest sides. The roofline and eaves extend outward this extra foot, forming a distinctive central secondary hipped gable. The southern wall features four wood sash windows, two sets of glazed French doors with stained glass transoms overhead, and a screened side “sleeping” porch with tongue-and-groove flooring. This porch was an original part of the building, according to the 1935 Sanborn map of the Whitis location. A 2023-2024 project extended the screened porch to the back of the house, an addition that has required a small bump-out of the rear roof. Wooden steps run up to the screened doors of the porch. This porch addition maintains the look of the original, including its tongue-and-groove flooring and a duplicated screening structure. sitting on three layered 2x8 (i.e., 6x8) beams. The floor joists at the rear run north-south on apparent 20" centers. A subfloor access door opens just south of center at the back of the building. The house rests on reinforced cinderblocks (ca. 8-foot spacing), with 2x8 rear floor joists The central portion of the north wall, where the dining room lies on the interior, juts out Two tall, wide front windows (12/1 lights) flank the front door, while five wood sash  The Casual Victorian In contrast to the bungalow look on the outside, the inside of this home has several The front door opens onto a living room featuring two large 12/1 windows, a hall entry, The central hallway, leading east from the living room to the kitchen, separates the dining Victorian features unseen in most Arts & Crafts homes. These features include 12-foot high ceilings, transoms over interior and exterior doors, intricate moldings around the doors and window casements, large pocket doors separating the dining room and the parlor from the living room, and a formal room configuration anchored around a central hallway. The front and central interior of the house hasn’t been altered or remodeled. The doors, doorways, and molding are originals, the ceiling has never been dropped, and the untouched pine-leaf floor is still going strong. and sliding pocket doors to rooms on the east (the dining room) and the south (a parlor/den). An apparent former fireplace, now covered, lies in the center of the living room. (The house has no chimney; though the fireplace was equipped for a gas stove as of 2001.) room from a bedroom to the south. All the hall doors have transoms inset with antique stained glass. The parlor/den to the south features a pocket door and a tall narrow 1/1 window. The bedroom to the east sports two 1/1 windows and a glazed French door that open onto the screen- in porch. The dining room, accessible to the east of the living room via another pocket door, has an 18-light 6/6/6 high window connecting two tall narrow 1/1 windows and entries to the hall, the living room, and a hallway. The pass-through from the dining room to the kitchen features a short 1/1 window, a closet, and a cupboard underneath stairs that lead to a converted attic. These stairs, a 2016 addition that altered a space which had been a butler pantry, lead to an attic converted into a two-bedroom- one-bath living space in 2016. East from the pass-through leads to a large kitchen remodeled in 2023-2024 with built-in cabinets and a long glass-paneled door leading to the screen-in porch. An original door with a transom leads to a pantry/office that features of 1/1 wood sash window and a glazed French door leading to the screen-in porch. The ceiling here has been dropped by a foot to accommodate new wiring and ductwork. INTRODUCING…THE SPLAWN-GREEN HOUSE! Architecturally, this house is a distinctive and well-preserved missing link in the development of the bungalow style in Austin. It’s an invaluable key to understanding how the form supplanted the traditional Victorian in the city. The home’s unique historical association with an existing landmark, the Pearce-Anderson House, furthers that understanding. and UT president Walter Splawn, inspired the first half of this project’s name. We thought it The home’s other historical association, with nationally renowned New Deal economist fitting to name the house after its most nationally famous resident as well as its most Cherrywood-famous resident, Annie Lou Green. Hence, The Splawn-Green House. The name may not roll off the tongue, but it honors two important people with roles in local, state, and national history between them. The pair also played their part in keeping the history of this home, and all it represents, alive and well today. Tax map for 3311 Lafayette Ave. Front, west side South side  North side Back, east side  Backyard, rear view of house Backyard, front of ADU Backyard, rear view of ADU  Backyard, view of shed 1887 Koch’s Bird’s Eye View Map (Courtesy of Austin History Center) 1935 Sandborn Fire Insurance Map (University of Texas Center for American History) Close up, 1935 Sandborn Fire Insurance Map (University of Texas Center for American History) 2511 Wichita Area College Hill Plat Map, Lot 6, Block 8 (Austin History Center) 2511 Wichita Area 1919 Austin Plat Map 2511 Wichita Area Plat Map (University of Texas) 2511 Wichita Area 1910 Census Data for Maude Jones’ family 1949 Moving Record from 2511 Wichita to 3311 Lafayette Ave. (University of Texas) 3311 Lafayette Ave. Map, undated 3311 Lafayette Ave. Map, 2021 Neighborhood Newsletter Article about Pearce-Anderson House, 1994 Walter Splawn, UT President and Commissioner on Interstate Commerce Commission Tenant of 2511 Wichita from 1920-1922 Annie Lou Green, Owner of 3311 Lafayette Ave. from 1970-1998 Permitting and Development Center | 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive, Austin, TX 78752 | (512) 978-4000 Property Profile Report Residential Design Standards: LDC/25-2-Subchapter F Selected Sign Ordinances UPPER BOGGY CREEK: CHERRYWOOD Secondary Apartment Infill Option, Small Lot Amnesty Infill Option, Parking Placement/Imp Cover Design Option, Front Porch Design Option, Garage Placement Design Option Zoning Map Neighborhood Restricted Parking Areas: Cherrywood Neighborhood Assn. Zoning Guide The Guide to Zoning provides a quick explanation of the above Zoning codes, however, the Land Development Information Services provides general zoning assistance and can advise you on the type of development allowed on a property. Visit Zoning for the description of each Base Zoning District. For official verification of the zoning of a property, please order a Zoning Verification Letter. General information on the Neighborhood Planning Areas is available from Neighborhood Planning. Imagery Map General Information Location: Parcel ID: Grid: 3311 LAFAYETTE AVE 0214110206 MK24 Planning & Zoning *Right click hyperlinks to open in a new window. Future Land Use (FLUM): Single Family, Transportation Regulating Plan: No Regulating Plan SF-3-NP C14-02-0057 020801-92 19990225-070b 20060406-051 Zoning: Zoning Cases: Zoning Ordinances: Zoning Overlays: Neighborhood Plan: Infill Options: Mobile Food Vendors: Historic Landmark: -- -- Urban Roadways: Yes No No No No No No Environmental Fully Developed Floodplain: FEMA Floodplain: Austin Watershed Regulation Areas: URBAN Watershed Boundaries: Boggy Creek Creek Buffers: Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone: Edwards Aquifer Recharge Verification Zone: Erosion Hazard Zone Review Buffer: Political Boundaries Jurisdiction: AUSTIN FULL PURPOSE Council District: 9 County: TRAVIS School District: Austin ISD Community Registry: Vicinity Map Austin Independent School District, Austin Lost and Found Pets, Austin Neighborhoods Council, Cherrywood Neighborhood Assn., Del Valle Community Coalition, Friends of Austin Neighborhoods, Homeless Neighborhood Association, Neighborhood Empowerment Foundation, Neighbors United for Progress, Preservation Austin, SELTexas, Sierra Club, Austin Regional Group, Upper Boggy Creek Neighborhood Planning Team The Information on this report has been produced by the City of Austin as a working document and is not warranted for any other use. No warranty is made by the City regarding its accuracy or completeness. Date created: 7/2/2024