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, William H. Curtin House Page 1 of 12 21L335 CITY OF HOUSTON Archaeological & Historical Commission _ __ Planning and Development Department 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. William H. Curtin House Page 2 of 12 21L335 CITY OF HOUSTON Archaeological & Historical Commission _ __ Planning and Development Department 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.