1994 Historic Hyde Park Homes Tour
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i:·~?.·, ;)''/ .··:· ~L,. .Welcome to Our Neighborhood, The Hyde Park Neighborhood Association welcomes you to our eighteenth annual Hyde Park Homes Tour. The theme for this year's tour is "A Stroll Through the Park." Last year the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Historic Landmark Commission created a walking tour of Hyde Park. We would like to thank those who helped in developing the walking tour and invite you to return and take the self-guided tour at your leisure. This Homes Tour invites you to "Stroll through the Park" to enjoy the grace and beauty of some of our homes and the hospitality of our neighbors. Among the stops on the Tour you will see a new Victorian home that recreates the style of 100 years ago, a home which celebrates its hundredth anniversary, anda home which was saved from the bulldozers 15 years ago. · The homes on the 1994 Tour represent a wide range of styles from the 100 year old Victorians to the. 20th century bungalows that make up the majority of Hyde Park homes. This year we would like to call attention to the people of Hyde Park. Those who lived and worked in early Hyde Park, such as Elisabet Ney, Peter Mans bendel, Charles Ramsdell,· and many others who established a neighborhood which promoted the value of art and literature. In keeping. with those values we hope you will take the time .to stop at the Elisabet Ney Museum and enjoy the music, prose and verse of our neighbors. JL Alan Marburger, Preside Hyde Park Neighborhoo r ABOUT HYDE PARK AND H.P.N.A. In 1891 Colonel Monroe M. Shipe acquired were razed for apartment and church the old Texas State Fairgrounds and platted construction. The creation of the Hyde Park the Hyde Park subdivision. He built the city's Neighbor Association (H.P.N.A.) in the 1970s ftrst electric streetcar system to bridge the 20- fostered revitalization of the neighborhood. block gap between his fledgling neighborhood Sympathetic rehabilitation of many homes led and then-distant Austin to the south. to recognition of the neighborhood's Advertised optimistically as "the wealthiest significance by the National Register of and most aristocratic ward in the city," Hyde Historic Places in 1990. Park grew gradually throughout the. early 20th century. This gradual growth resulted in an The Hyde Park Neighborhood Ass.ociation unusually diverse housing stock. including uses funds from the Home Tour to promote Victorian Eastlake and Queen Anne style and preserve the character of the houses, American Foursquare and Colonial neighborhood. The H.P .N .A. sponsors events Revival residences/of the tum of the century, throughout the year such as the Homes Tour, and Bungalows and Tudor Revival dwellings Fire Station Festival, and the Run for the from the 1920s and 1930s. Roses. It has ·funded beautification, restoration, and education projects for the Like many inner city neighborhoods, Hyde community as well as being a leader in Park underwent a period of decline in the neighborhood planning. 1950s and 1960s, when many older homes SITTON HOUSE Many of the lighting ·fixtures and all of the 1987 bathroom fixtures are .old as well. 207 E. 39th Street .Whenever readily available, the Sittons used new materials which replicated the old, such as the wooden beaded board wainscoting in the bathroom, a_nd bull's eye molding and interior shutters throughout the house. · The kitchen recreates a typical Victorian design. There are no built-in cabinets or counters. Thad and Sarah opted instead for old kitchen furniture--pie safes and jelly cupboards. -They found the sink in a ditch along a country road, and the 1930s gas cook stove (which_ wor~s efficiently)through an ad in the local paper. ·There is no garbage disposal or dishwasher, other than the human variety. The refrigerator and microwave are hidden in the pantry. A recent addition to the neighborhood is· this Queen Anne revival' built for Thad and Sarah The Sitton house is furnished entirely with Sitton in 1987. The·Sittons found the plan, antiques, including some Texas primitive . designed by Wharton, Texas, architect John pieces mixed in with more elegant Victorian Guy through Victorian Homes magazine. The ones. This combination of the common and --'-------·-··-~~·- -"·-·-~--- --- design was modified by . Austin architect refined was typical in Texas homes in the James Tempel to incorporate changes desired 19th century. by the Sittons and to comply with city code. The house, which blends in perfectly with Thad and Sarah Sitton's book, Austin's Hyde others in the older section of Hyde Park, was Park... the First SO Years, 1891-1941, is available built on property which was part of the for $10.00 at the Avenue B Grocery, 4403 Avenue original Monroe Shipe estate. B. Built in 1905 and still in operation today, this store is a rare survival of the once common Thad and Sarah, historians well versed in the neighborhood grocery. history of Hyde Park, researched Victorian construction and incorporated as many authentic .details in their house as possible. To achieve the true verticalify of period architecture, the house was built on a high pier and beam foundation rather than the slab called for in the plan. They also increased the ceiling heights and extended the depth of the porch. Many of the building materials in the house are old and were collected by the Sittons. The floor.is remilled long-leaf pine from Cook's Paint Store in Houston. The exterior doors date from the 1890s, as do the porcelain doorknobs found throughout the house. HYDE PARI< MARKET PI.J\CE 4101 GUADALUPE STREET "a Hyde Parle retail site since 1897" CAFE & RETAIL , SABIA BOTANICALS space available Austin'e; Aromatherapy Center Hyde Park Market Place PatCrowe · 454-1711 4101 Guadalupe Suite 500 Aus'tin, Texas 78751 a project of , Specializing in aromatherapy ·AssoCIATES eupp/iee; and eervices, eelect M< Gmv M.A~BU~GE~ ~ body care and herbal producte, 4315 hflluE <• Ausnn, TEXAS 78751• (512) 459-2261 OPENING IN 3UNE booke, art, plante, fragrant and eesential oils. II .~, ...W..d.. ~ Woodburn Iiouse Hyde Park's Own HYDE PARK Bed (6 Breakfast unique History as told by those who were there (here) is available for $10 at ... Avenue B Grocery 4403 Ave. B Austin, Texas 78751 453-3921 Experience the charm of this Since 1974 Austin landmark in historic Hyde Park. THE Lovely rooms with private baths. ermal ® Consider a weekend getaway for yourself or .. CJacl( SYSTEM convenient lodging for your visitors. By: Soolhem/Austin, Inc. 25% off two consecutive nights with this ad'. 93 7 Reinli .ttZ Austin, Texas Expires August 31st 1994 · Foundation Specialists Herb Dickson and Sandra Villalaz-Dickson owners and resident innkeepers ,.. Pier & Beam 4401 Avenue D ,.. Concrete Slabs (512) 458-4335 ,.. Drainage Member, Historic Hotel Association of Texas 476 .. 6500 OLIPHANT HOUSE Architecturally, the house presents an exuberant visual display of elements of the 1894 Queen Anne and Stick styles. The playful use 3900 Avenue C of color, spindled porche~, and scrolled design around the gables are all classic Queen Anne details. The steep roof, diagonal supports under the gables, irregular silhouette accented by multiple porches, and horizontal boarding are characteristic of the Stick style. · The Oliphants lived in the house for only ten years. Then the family moved back to central Austin so James could be closer to his work. The house was brought into the .modem age when Anna E. Walker, president of the Texas Woman Suffrage Association, acquired it in 1916. After her residency, the house changed ownership twice. Unoccupied in One hundred years ago, in 1894, James 1974, · it was slated for demolition when Oliphant, his wife Alice and their four neighborhood efforts and the Heritage Society children moved from 15th and Colorado to of Austin helped find a buyer. Keith Marshall this house on a most desirable corner lot in restored. the exterior, modernized the kitchen the newly developing Hyde Park Addition. and made minor changes to dining room. Oliphant, grandson of Lord Oliphant of Don and A vis Davis bought the house in Scotland, served in the Confederate Army for 1977. The Davis' have made relatively few four years. He enlisted when he was only changes to the interior since the major . fifteen and spent time in a Federal prison. renovation by Keith Marshall. Rather, their When he returned to Austin as an adult, he efforts have been to preserve and maintain the pursued a photography career and became exterior and structural elements. The Oliphant well known for his work which included house was zoned Historic and received. an much of early Austin's pictorial history. Bistoric Preservation Award in 1978. Oliphant contracted with B.A. Ellingson to have this house built for $1875. Because Shipe required each house to cost at least $2000, additional cabinetry was necessary to bring the price up to the minimum. The contract specified "good masonry and of the hardest quality" and carpentry work to be of the "best quality· lumber free of injurious defects." The front door was to be of two inch white pine "similar in design to [a] Queen Ann[ e] Door" complete with colored glass. This four- bedroom house also boasted two coal-burning fireplaces, 14-foot-high ceilings on the first floor, pocket doors separating the parlor and dining areas, wainscoting, and transoms over the doorways. FAULK-FRANKE HOUSE One section of the back porch was enclosed to . 1917 create a climate controlled laundry room . Again making use of recycled materials, he 102Avenue D added French doors which were a close match to original ones in the sunroom.