CITY OF HOUSTON Archaeological & Historical Commission _ __ Planning and Development Department

LANDMARK DESIGNATION REPORT

LANDMARK NAME: William H. Curtin House AGENDA ITEM: D OWNERS: Ms. Ingrid Bond HPO FILE NO.: 21L335 APPLICANTS: Ms. Ingrid Bond DATE ACCEPTED: 03/03/2021 LOCATION: 2504 Del Monte Drive, Houston, Texas, 77019 HAHC HEARING: 03/25/2021

SITE INFORMATION: Lot 18, Block 38, River Oaks Section 1. The site contains a single-family, two- story brick, Tudor Revival style 2,998 square foot home situated on a 13,275 lot built in 1928.

TYPE OF APPROVAL REQUESTED: Landmark Designation

HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE SUMMARY The William Henry Curtin House was designed and built for Mr. William Henry Curtin and Mrs. Lula Lovelady Curtin in 1928. The Tudor Revival style brick house was designed by prolific Houston architect Samuel H. Dixon, Jr. Early in his career, Dixon worked with esteemed Houston architect Birdsall Briscoe in the firm Briscoe & Dixon. During the late 1930s, Dixon partnered with Athna Bryan Ellis in the architectural firm Dixon & Ellis. Both firms produced designs for a long list of notable homes in Shadyside, Broadacres, River Oaks, Southgate and other neighborhoods. William H. Curtin, a lifelong Houstonian, owned and operated W.H. Curtin & Co., a successful international scientific apparatus supply company located at 2019 Franklin Street in Houston. In later years, the company was known as Curtin Scientific Apparatus and had offices in over a dozen major U.S. cities and in Mexico. The company sold a wide array of scientific equipment and produced a thick catalogue of its offerings. Hardbound volumes of the early trade catalogues are part of the collection at the National Museum of American History in Washington D.C. William Curtin and his wife, Lula, lived at 2504 Del Monte Drive for over forty years. The home remained in the family when their nephew, William Reed, purchased the house in the 1970s. To date, just four families have lived in the home over the last ninety-two years. The William H. Curtin House at 2504 Del Monte Drive meets Criteria 3, 4, 5 and 6 for Landmark Designation.

HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE

River Oaks River Oaks is adjacent to Buffalo Bayou and Memorial Park in west central Houston. Development in the residential garden suburb, which comprises 1,100 acres, began in the 1920s through the foresight and persistence of brothers Will Hogg (1875-1930) and Mike Hogg (1885-1941), and attorney Hugh Potter (1888-1968). The nucleus of the expansive subdivision predates the Hoggs' and Potter's involvement. By 1924, Country Club Estates, the section south of the newly established River Oaks Country Club, had been platted, but not developed. The Hogg brothers bought out the original investors and established Country Club Estates, Inc., later renamed the River Oaks Corporation. Mike Hogg's friend, Hugh Potter, was installed as president of the corporation. Under his expert direction, the development of River Oaks began in earnest. Not only was the existing section developed,

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the corporation also busily acquired land on all sides of the original Country Club Estates. Between 1926 and 1947, an additional nineteen platted subdivisions were joined to River Oaks. A study of noteworthy American suburban communities, particularly Roland Park in Baltimore and the Country Club District in Kansas City, was responsible for such innovative ideas as the institution of architectural controls in River Oaks, the levying of a private tax to support a maintenance and services fund, and the creation of a property owners' association to enforce deed restrictions. Will Hogg was especially determined that River Oaks serve as a model of enlightened community planning standards for Houston. He retained Kansas City landscape architects Hare & Hare to provide a master plan that would protect the environmental integrity and natural beauty of the area. The developers also hired J. C. Nichols, who built Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza, one of the first major shopping centers in the United States, to serve as a design consultant. The River Oaks master plan included home sites, a fifteen-acre campus for River Oaks Elementary School (1926, Harry D. Payne), two shopping centers, and esplanades planted with flowers. The plan called for underground utility lines, eliminated alleys, allowed only three intersecting streets and provided rigid building codes. Deed restrictions and centralized community control assured exclusivity; approval of house designs by a panel of architects and citizens and a minimum purchase price of $7,000 were required. One restriction stated that no property could be conveyed to any person who was not of the Caucasian race, although that provision was removed when the restrictions were renewed in 1985. On March 15, 1926, the subdivision’s developers announced a “Room for All Predevelopment Sale” for River Oaks: Section 1. An additional 134 lots were put on the market, nearly doubling the number of house sites offered in the original development. The lots in Block 40 on Skokie Drive (renamed Pelham Drive) served as the southern boundary of River Oaks. The general restrictions for the new tract required that single-family homes be at least two-stories tall with the exception of 13 lots in Block 40. The least expensive homes in Block 40 were to cost no less than $7,500, while the price requirements on the remaining homes on Pelham Drive ranged from $12,000 to $18,000.

Samuel H. Dixon, Jr. (b. March 30, 1886, d. April 23, 1948)

The William H. Curtin House at 2504 Del Monte Drive was designed by architect Samuel H. Dixon, Jr. in the Tudor Revival style in 1928. The property was first listed in the Houston City Directories in 1929. Samuel Haynie Dixon was born in March 1886 in Austin, Travis County, Texas. His father, Samuel Houston Dixon (1855-1941) was an editor, journalist, and well-known author. Dixon, Sr. held important posts in the Texas agricultural office and in state government. Dixon’s mother, Virginia (Jennie) Dixon, served as the secretary of the state Women’s Christian Temperance Union, edited the temperance journal and managed the women’s department of the Southern Mercury, the official newspaper of the Farmers’Alliance. Samuel H. Dixon, Jr. moved from Hays County to Houston with his parents around 1900. In 1906, he graduated from Texas A&M College (later University) with a degree in engineering. While attending A&M, he studied architecture under Frederick E. Giesecke. Following graduation, Dixon returned to Houston and worked as a draftsman for the architectural firm F. S. Glover & Son. Around 1909, Dixon left architectural practice for a brief stint as a professional baseball player.

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After leaving professional sports, Dixon settled in Victoria, Texas where he was employed by architect Jules Leffland. Dixon also practiced independently and partnered with architect Charles Praeger. While in Victoria, Dixon met and married Natalie Sullivan (b. July 1,1880). Their daughter, Dorothy, was born in 1910. Dixon was widowed when his wife died at age thirty-three on February 14, 1914. After his wife’s death, Dixon moved with his daughter to his parents’ home at 610 Highland Avenue in Houston. On March 26, 1920, Dixon married Irma Allsup of Houston. They were parents to three children, Samuel Briscoe, Maidee and Mike. The family was living at 711 Highland Ave in the mid- 1920s and by the end of the decade had moved to 1612 Bissonnet Street, a home Dixon designed that has since been demolished. After returning to Houston, Dixon worked for architect Birdsall P. Briscoe. From 1922 to 1926, the two architects were partners in the firm Briscoe & Dixon. Although their formal partnership was dissolved in 1926, the two continued to share an office and collaborate on larger projects. During the 1920s, Dixon was also a vice president at Texas Historical Publishing Co., Inc. His father served as president of the company. Over the years, Dixon collaborated with many other well-known Houston architects, including Maurice Sullivan and Alfred Bossom. Dixon-designed homes can be found throughout the Boulevard Oaks, Turner Addition, Riverside Terrace and River Oaks neighborhoods among others. In the second half of the decade, Dixon had an architectural office in the Electric Building in Houston. During the Depression, Dixon left his architectural practice and worked for the City of Houston Tax Department. By 1937, he had returned to the field and partnered with Athna B. Ellis in their architectural firm Sam H. Dixon & A. B. Ellis. Like Birdsall Briscoe, Dixon was known for his residential home designs.

Briscoe & Dixon (1922-1926) The firm designed the Stude House in Shadyside and the William L. Clayton Summer Houston in River Oaks, both City of Houston Landmarks. In addition, 1311 South Boulevard, 1323 South Boulevard, 1405 South Boulevard, and 1506 South Boulevard in the Broadacres Historic District were designed by Briscoe & Dixon. They also designed Jefferson Davis High School (now Northside High School) and Hogg Middle School in 1926. Dixon & Ellis Sam Dixon and Athna Bryan Ellis, established the architectural firm of Sam H. Dixon, Jr. & A.B. Ellis in 1937. The partners designed many homes for Houston builder and developer E. H. Borden in Southgate, including the home at 2102 Addison, and throughout Braeswood, Chelsea Place and Braeburn Country Club Estates in Bellaire. Athna Bryan Ellis was born in 1897 in Polk County, Texas, where his father was a sawmill engineer. Ellis’ education at the Rice Institute was interrupted by World War I. He entered the Navy and trained at the Naval Radio School. He was discharged in 1919 and returned to Rice for his studies; he also ran an amateur radio station on campus and was president of the Architectural Society. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1923. He died at the age of 42, in 1939.

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Buildings by Sam H. Dixon, Jr. James A. Baker, Jr., House, 1216 Bissonnet Avenue (1926) Sam H. Dixon, Jr., House, 1612 Bissonnet Avenue (c. 1927, demolished) Colonial Country Club, (1927-28) William H. Curtin House, 2504 Del Monte (1928) Jack W. Lander House, 1714 South Boulevard (1929)

Buildings by Briscoe & Dixon: John T. Crotty House, 4 Longfellow Lane (1921-23) Y.W.C.A. Home, 1118 Crawford Street (1922-23; demolished) John McClellan House, 4100 Milam Street, (1923; altered) Alterations to J. J. Carroll House, 16 Courtlandt Place (1923) William L. Clayton Summer House, 3376 Inwood Drive (1924) Henry Stude House, 14 Remington Lane (1924) John F. Dickson, Jr., House, 1311 South Boulevard (1924-25) W. D. Cleveland, Jr., House, 1323 South Boulevard (1924-24; extensively altered) Jordan Motor Company Building, 1211-1219 McKinney Avenue (1924-25; demolished) Walter H. Walne House, 1405 South Boulevard (1924-25) Redbird House, 3237 Inwood Drive (1925) James S. Hogg Junior High School, 1100 Merrill Street (1925-26, with Maurice J. Sullivan) Jefferson Davis (later Northside) Senior High School, 1200 Quitman Street (1925-26, with Maurice J. Sullivan) Craig F. Cullinan House, 6 Longfellow Lane (1925-26) John F. Grant House, 1401 Holcombe Boulevard (1925-26; demolished)

William Henry Curtin (b. September 3, 1892-d.August 1, 1971) William Henry Curtin was the son of prominent Houstonians Henry Michael Curtin and Georgia F. Curtin. His father was an attorney who served as the Harris County tax collector and worked in real estate sales. During the 1910s and 1920s, his parents and sister Ruth made frequent appearances on the Society page of the Houston Post. Curtin was a graduate of Texas A&M College (later University) in College Station. While at A&M, he was a member of their cadet corps. He rose through the ranks and, in 1911, was promoted to captain of Company B. He later served in the U.S. Army during World War I. By age twenty-four, Curtin was working as a purchasing agent at the Republic Supply Company in Houston. On April 5, 1921, at age 29, he married Lula Yancey Lovelady (b. July 23, 1898-d. February 5, 1983) of San Antonio. The wedding announcement was featured in the Houston Post. Thereafter, Mr. & Mrs. W. H. Curtin were periodically mentioned on the Post’s Society page. In the 1930 census William Curtin is listed as the proprietor of his own mill supply company and the couple was living at their new home on Del Monte Drive with daughters Lula and Barbara. By 1940, his scientific apparatus supply company, W.H. Curtin & Co., had been established with its headquarters at 2019 Franklin Street. As the company grew, it was renamed Curtin Scientific Co. and sold a wide array

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of scientific apparatus, reagents, glassware, lab equipment and furniture. Some of the company’s early hard-bound supply catalogues are part of the Smithsonian Institution’s Trade Literature Collection in the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Over time, the company established eighteen supply warehouses in major metropolitan areas throughout the United States and in Mexico. Locations included , Tulsa, New Orleans, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Washington, , Wayne, NJ, Boston, Midland, Michigan, Minneapolis, St. Louis, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Monterrey and Mexico City. Ownership History Mr. Curtin lived at his home at 2504 Del Monte Drive for over forty years, until his passing in 1971. Shortly after his death, the property changed hands and Curtin’s nephew, William Reed, purchased the house. After nearly sixty years in the Curtin family, the home was sold to Mr. & Mrs. Bradley Westmoreland in 1988. The Bond family purchased the home in 1994. After residing there for nearly thirty years, the current homeowner, Ingrid Bond, is seeking this Landmark Designation.

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION AND RESTORATION HISTORY Tudor Revival Style In her Field Guide to American Houses, architectural historian Virginia McAlester explains that, “the name Tudor Revival style is historically imprecise, since relatively few examples closely mimic the architectural characteristics of Tudor (16th-century) . Instead, the style is loosely adapted from a variety of late Medieval and early Renaissance English prototypes, ranging from thatch-roofed folk cottages to grand manor homes. This broad variety provided the basis for an English domestic architecture revival that began around 1850 and lasted until 1930. British architects such as Phillip S. Webb (1831-1915), C.F.A. Voysey (1857-1941), M.H. Baillie Scott (1865-1945), and Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) designed homes that were imitated in both the United States and Great Britain.” McAlester notes that early landmark examples of Tudor style homes were built around 1890 with more modest versions being constructed by 1900. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the only style that surpassed Tudor Revival in popularity in American suburbs was Colonial Revival style. The Tudor Revival style was a prevalent architectural style nationally throughout the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1920s, at the height of the style’s popularity, homes built in the style were sometimes called Stockbroker’s Tudors. In Houston, significant concentrations of the Tudor style are found in the Boulevard Oaks Historic District and River Oaks. Approximately one-third of the homes in Boulevard Oaks were designed in the Tudor Revival style. Houston’s first female builder, Katharine Mott, designed several Tudor style homes. Following the Depression, Tudor houses were simplified and French Eclectic houses began to supplant Tudor in popularity. After World War II more modern styles replaced both the Tudor and French styles. The Tudor Revival style is characterized by prominent front gables, steeply pitched roofs, massive chimneys and arched doorways. The decorative details found on Tudor Revival houses are inspired by late Medieval English architecture and include decorative brickwork, stone accents and ornamental half- timbering, where wall surfaces appear to contain massive beams with brick or stucco filling the spaces between the wood. The W. H. Curtin House includes many of these details, specifically steeply pitched roofs, front-facing gables, and a decorative wooden front door with the original ornate brass hardware.

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Architectural Description The W. H. Curtin House is a fine example of Tudor Revival style architecture. The body of the house is designed with the asymmetry that is one of the hallmarks of the Tudor Revival style, but with an overall symmetrical arrangement of elements on the home’s façade. The façade is comprised of three distinct bays. While the roofline varies on each of the bays, the elements within the bays are designed to balance one another. For example, the front door is centered on the façade and flanked by complementary groupings of windows on either side, but the sets of windows do not mirror one another exactly. The red brick house is built on a partial basement. The body of the house is covered in a shingled, gable-end roof with smaller cross gables in the second and third bays. Centered on the first floor of the left bay of the house, is a row of four Tudor style, steel casement windows with single-pane transoms above. The second story of the bay includes a row of three, through-the-cornice, steel casement windows centered above the wider row below. The windows are topped by a segmental arch. The first floor of the central bay contains an entry porch with a shingled shed roof supported by pairs of square, wooden columns on each side. The interior columns of the pair form a subtle arch. The original, heavy wooden door with ornate brass hardware and a small square, off-center window remains intact. Above the front door, an arched French door leading to a Juliet balcony with a wrought iron railing is centered under a moderately pitched front-facing gable with a single corbelled bracket on the left side of the bay. The first floor of the right bay contains a large bay window comprised of five matching steel casements. A curved oxidized copper roof adorns the bay window. The second level contains a row of four steel casement windows that is centered under a steeply pitched front-facing gable with corbelled brackets. A slender three pane window is at the peak of the gable. The home is balanced on either side by recessed bays. On the right side of the home an elevator shaft was added by the Curtin family in 1970. The shaft was integrated into the design of the home by using matching brick and is obscured by a large magnolia tree. This is the only change made to the original façade of the home. The W. H. Curtin house remains in excellent original condition. The original windows, railings, copper gutters, door hardware and light fixtures are preserved. The current homeowner finished the attic space and added an historic window at the rear of the home (only visible from the back yard) that was located at an architectural salvage store and seamlessly blends with the existing historic windows.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Americanhistory.si.edu/collections, Curtin Scientific Company, Accessed February 2021. Ancestry.com, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 United States Federal Census. Accessed January 2021. ______, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. ______, Texas Birth Certificates, 1880-1982. ______, Texas Death Certificates, 1880-1982. ______, Texas Marriage Records and Index, 1837-2015.

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City of Houston City Directories and Cole Directories, Accessed January 2021.

City of Houston - Houston Architectural Survey, River Oaks/Memorial, 1980 edition.

City of Houston Protected Landmark Designation Report for 3023 Del Monte. River Oaks History. Accessed January 2021.

Findagrave.com, Index. Accessed January 2021.

Fox, Stephen, AIA Houston Architectural Guide, Third Edition, Houston: American Institute of Architects, 2012.

Fox, Stephen, Sam H. Dixon, Jr., email, accessed February 2021.

Harris County Appraisal District, Real Property Account Information and Ownership Information for 2504 Del Monte Drive, Houston, Texas, 77019. January 2021.

Harris County Archives, Tax Records, January 2021.

Houston Post, Society Page, 1910-1925, Accessed February 2021.

McAlester, Virginia Savage. A Field Guide to American Houses: Revised and Expanded. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013.

Pubs.acs.org, Analytical Chemistry, Curtin Scientific Company, Accessed February 2021

Tshaonline.org, Dixon, Samuel Houston, Accessed January 2021. The information and sources provided by the applicant for this application have been reviewed, verified, edited and supplemented with additional research and sources by , Planning and Development Department, City of Houston.

APPROVAL CRITERIA FOR LANDMARK DESIGNATION Sec. 33-224. Criteria for designation (a) The HAHC, in making recommendations with respect to designation, and the city council, in making a designation, shall consider one or more of the following criteria, as appropriate for the type of designation:

S NA S - satisfies D - does not satisfy NA - not applicable

(1) Whether the building, structure, object, site or area possesses character, interest or value as a visible reminder of the development, heritage, and cultural and ethnic diversity of the city, state, or nation;

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(2) Whether the building, structure, object, site or area is the location of a significant local, state or national event;

(3) Whether the building, structure, object, site or area is identified with a person who, or group or event that, contributed significantly to the cultural or historical development of the city, state, or nation;

(4) Whether the building or structure or the buildings or structures within the area exemplify a particular architectural style or building type important to the city;

(5) Whether the building or structure or the buildings or structures within the area are the best remaining examples of an architectural style or building type in a neighborhood;

(6) Whether the building, structure, object or site or the buildings, structures, objects or sites within the area are identified as the work of a person or group whose work has influenced the heritage of the city, state, or nation;

(7) Whether specific evidence exists that unique archaeological resources are present;

(8) Whether the building, structure, object or site has value as a significant element of community sentiment or public pride. AND (9) If less than 50 years old, or proposed historic district containing a majority of buildings, structures, or objects that are less than 50 years old, whether the building, structure, object, site, or area is of extraordinary importance to the city, state or nation for reasons not based on age (Sec. 33-224(b)).

Sec. 33-229. Criteria for protected landmark designation S NA S - satisfies D - does not satisfy NA - not applicable

(1) Meets at least three of the criteria for designation in section 33-224 of this Code;

(2) Was constructed more than 100 years before application for designation was received by the director;

(3) Is listed individually or as a contributing structure in an historic district on the National Register of Historic Places; or

(4) Is recognized by the State of Texas as a Recorded State Historical Landmark.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission recommend to City Council the Landmark Designation of the [William H. Curtin House] at [2504 Del Monte Drive].

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HAHC RECOMMENDATION The Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission recommends to City Council the Landmark Designation of the William H. Curtin House at 2504 Del Monte Drive .

EXHIBIT A

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PHOTO W. H. CURTIN HOUSE 2504 DEL MONTE DRIVE

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EXHIBIT B SITE MAP W. H. CURTIN HOUSE 2504 DEL MONTE DRIVE

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EXHIBIT C W. H. CURTIN HOUSE 1974 SURVEY/TAX RECORDS 2504 DEL MONTE DRIVE

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