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HomeMy WebLinkAbout38-HCDATE: April 19, 1999 TO: Planning Commission and City Council FROM: Stephen C. Richardson, Planning Director SUBJECT: Consider an application for an HC-L (Historic -Cultural Landmark Preservation Designation) for the "Holmes Duke House" located at 694 Forrest, zoned GC -MD (General Commercial Multiple -Family Dwelling) FILE: 38-HC STAFF REPORT The property owner, Paul Chargois, has submitted this request for consideration by the Historic Landmark Commission, the Planning Commission and City Council. The application meets eight of the ten criteria required for approval as per Sec. 30-39. The house was home to Holmes Duke, a prominent local businessman and city official. In the early 1900's, Mr. Duke was the proprietor of the Ogden and Duke Hotels and Duke's Restaurant (Condition 1). The house was built in 1899 and is an example of early 20th Century vernacular architecture with detailing resembling the Queen Anne style. It was constructed as a typical middle class house in what was to become a fashionable suburban neighborhood in Beaumont at the turn of the century, This home is one of the few representatives of Victorian residential architecture left in Beaumont and one of the few houses surviving from the pre-Spindletop era (Conditions B, D, E, F, J). The property is a recorded Texas Landmark and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places (Condition A). The property has been listed in SPARE in both 1977 and 1989 (Condition H). In 1977, the property received a rating of 80 indicating a high preservation priority. At the Historic Landmark Commission meeting held April 12, 1999, the Commission voted 8:0 to approve this request. Exhibits are attached. LEGAL DESCRIPTION FOR ORDINANCE PURPOSES Being all of Lots 7 & 8, Block 1, Calder Addition, Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas containing 0.32 acres, more or less. FEE 38-TIC: A request for an I-IC-L de "on on property located at 694 Forrest. Nuxx H � Applicant: Paul Chazgo � .. C SCALE 111-2001 .r. « • • N AI 1 K « KAZM AVEAPAP ,A'a 4107 • 11 I • '� a+r as � s• NORTH 5TREL—r PIA corlr .f,d /.Yo 7 • C A 1 1 • I& fif%] r rr • • i 1' • I' I M f A I' A+ � � I • � � " A 4 r +. • I M � III /I % • BROA0WAY 6" ♦ M BEAUMONT, TEXAS HISTORIC SITES INVENTORY FORM - BEAUMONT HISTORICAL LANDMARK (X)MMI55IUN JEF 1. County JEFFERSON S. USGS Quad No. 3,094-111 Site No. 163, City/Rural BEAUMONT BWT 6. Date: Factual 1899 Est. 2. Name Holmes Duke House Address 694 Forrest 7. Architect/Builder Contractor 3. owner McNeill . Jack Et Ux 8. Style,/Type Queen Anne Address 940 Thomas Road, Begim-r-___ 77V-6-4621 9. Original Use DOMESTIC/Sin it_EAMLL%. 4. Block/Lot Calder Lot 7-8 Block I SE 1-4 Present Use COMMERCE AND TRADE Professional 10. Description: One-story frame house. Hipped with Lower cross gable roof, diamond pattern asbestos shingles. Central pedimented entry with sunburst motif around semi -circular stained glass window. Stepped entablature supported by paired Doric columns on wooden pedestals. Inset porch with central wood and glass double doors between two curved bays each containing three one -over -one double hung sash. Turned spindle balustrade, wooden steps. Projecting side bay with gable end roof, cutaway corners with decorative bargeboard brackets, and one/or;e double hung sash with functioning Louvered shutters. Brick foundation. 11. Present Condition Excellent. The building underwent a complete restoration In the early 1980s. 12. Significance: The building is Beaumont's best example of a small Queen Anne house and one of the few surviving from the pre- Spindietop era. The finely detailed structure. includes original woodwork as well as stained and beveled glass windows. The house was built for Holmes Duke, a prominent local businessman and city official. Recorded Texas landmark. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 13. Relationship to Site: Original _ Moved _ Date (Describe original Site) 14. Bibliography 15. informant --- 16. Recorder D. Bush Date 66---22-89 PHOTO DATA Stack and White 35 mm negative YEAR DRWR ROLL FRME ROLL FRME 89 05 35 to LIM RECORDED BY: D. Bush WA PLO's " I'll .9114" This application must be submitted with an application for amendment to the Zoning Ordinance. Prepare a letter and the necessary documentation that supports as many of the criteria listed below as possible. In addition, you may submit other documentation that may be appropriate to support an historical -cultural designation. The Historical Landmark Commission, the Planning Commission, and the City Council shall consider, but not be limited to, one or more of the following criteria in establishing an H-C, Historical -Cultural Landmark Preservation District (Section 30-39 C., City Code of Ordinances). a. Existing or proposed recognition as a National Historic Landmark, or Texas Historic Landmark, or entry, or proposed entry into the National Register of Historic Places; b. Existence of distinguishing characteristics of an architectural type or r specimen, or of the social, economic or political heritage of the City; C. Identification as the work of a designer, architect or builder whose work has influenced the growth or development of the City; d. Embodiment of elements of architectural design, detail, materials or craftsmanship which represent a significant architectural innovation or an outstanding example of a particular historical, architectural or other cultural style or period; e. Relationship to other buildings, structures or places which are eligible for preservation as historic places; f. Exemplification of the cultural, economic, social, ethnic or historical heritage of the City, County, State or Nation; 9. Location as the site of a significant historical event; h. Listing in the S.P.A.R.E. Beaumont Survey; i. Identification with a person or persons who significantly contributed to the culture or development of the City, County, State or Nation; and j. A building, s ' tructure or place that because of its location has become of historic or cultural value to a neighborhood or community. 7. , De'sbriptio it Co"Ition - . ` Check me Gh*ok ors excteiierrt — deterionted unaltered original site X good — ruins ,.._..,.: altered ,..� moved date .�. fair — Unexposed Describe the ptvmmt Md CA~ iif knewwj physical appwe e The Duke. Houss is best described as a vernacular interpretation of Queen Anne architecture, It was constructed in about 1888 on its present site in what was a fashionable middle -clams neighborhood in Beaumont. Dead records show that Mr. Duke purchased than property in 189e and Emily members state that he built the house immediately thereafter. It is a detached, OnO story dwelling with a total of six rooms consisting of a p artor, a dining room, two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bath.. It is constructed mostly of pine with a drop stding extesrtor•Its root' is °desigi'yad with'severai gab [as and it has ' • brick pier foundation. A bedroom was added sonme time in the peat, but it has sincebeen►-en�o�d 'T auet,preerlr as tt way wen,crt^igirily cc� c rtt;u d a .r �:'1 � , .•�.. s,':ice. .3 ,.= f .,f- r On the front; or west fa de a rah is tF . . , , . ., , porch fiora� point. It has its own gabled roof, - adorned with a fanned, beveled glass window with three ,sure burst carvings. Der tt la, in the doric order, run along the architrave of the porch, Two large semicircular ':-,-':'bays, one -from the Parlor and the other from the from bedroom, protrude onto this porch. Each bay has three curved, double hung Windows. The porch columns are - 'grooved in swirls with doric capitals. 'These columns are clustered in groups of three at the turns of the porch. A .short railing with baluster columns runs between the larger support columns,. ,At the center of this porch are two front doors, they .main entrance of the, residence.. A strained' -glass window is above these doors. The north facade is much more simplistic in its ornametroetion than't"he west. However, this side °ts morle Ornate than tilt cast or the south elevations as it fronts along North Street, The major point on this facade is a bay with three large, double-frung wir ws. Above that middlevvindow is a stattned,g ass .v�rindow with a dental pattern b Uiwv it',,s mitar to the one above the Front doors. Above this bay is a gable with. fish seats siding surrounding an opening which was oncia.filled by another. '°stained-glass window. Cold photographs show that this window was similar to the, existing stained-glass windows. At the peals of this gable is another sun bunt carving. eetow the gable, at each corner, is a decorative bracket applied to the freeze of the house. The ;south facade is march more simple in design than the north as it does not have a bray window. It does have a gable with fish scale ,siding, a Aimilarly rerngved stained-glass wwindoW, a sun buret carving and two ornamental brackets. The east facade, or ream of the house, is the plainest in design of all the elevations. It has a covered rear entrance porch and a 'Fish scaled gable, but no other diettnctive decoration. They intearior4 of the house has not been altered. The walls are plastered with wainscoting In each room, Immediately inside the front door is a tar+ge central hallway leading to,the four primary rooms. To the left (the northwest Conner of the house) is the formal parlor which has a large semtcircular bay on its wrest wall.. Adjoining GontI t ation sh4W Description Rem number 7 Poe the parlor, through two large pocket doors, is the dining roorn. it has a bay on its north wall and a built-in china cabinet on its east wall. To the right of the central lWlway, across from the parlor, is a bedroom which also has a semicircular bay J°sting onto the front porch. To the rear, in the southeast corner of the house, is a second bedroom►. These bedrooms are separated by a double Fireplace. At the rear of the house, the central hallway meets a second hallway perpendicularly. The two hell�vi�y# fqi7T.a rough 'IT", with the central hallway serving as a bane of the "Tit and the second,, ornaller hallway as the taps of the 'IT". The second hallway jqtma. tho Mtchen.in .the. northeast Garner or the house with the bathroom and the covered rear entry porch in the southeast corner, The house has nineteen wood frame, double -hung windows, six of which are curved to fit the two semicircular bays on the west wall. to addition, there are four stained-glass windows, two of which have been removed but will be replaced by the current owners. Paint samples and statements by family members indicate that the house was originally painted white. As mentioned previously, deed records demonstrate that Holmes Duke purchased the property in 1898. The Beaumont City Directory of 1900 shows the Dukes living in the house, but no previous city directories or tax records exist to .substantiate the exact construction date. However, available family members state that the house was builtiin 1898. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that the date of construction was 1898 but certainly no later than 1900. Significance' P*Fiod AevMart of 5lanificancte--C.hec k and Justlfy below -.. .. prehistoric ---- 1400-1499 . _ asarcheolagy-prehistoric archeology -historic _ community planning — landscape �ra;hitecturb � rail ion �.-- t500-1S" agriculture — cons+ervatlon ___._ education Is" literature ,-- science .�.16DC1-1is83i ?'� architecture � education — — sculpture 1700--1799 ?< 1800-18'99 art commerce — engineering mlllta — . milli rll — sociai/ humanitarian communications ,.�,_. explorptianisettlemeal — industry . i philosophy W — thoater inventionx. AolltTcsl cavern"rruent •,.i — transportation �, ^ .r^ :.Y. . other (specify) 5POrAfk +dali e& 189e — 1900 eaacils er/Aarchitrect Currently unknown Statement of liltfrtificarn,, a tin goo pwagraaph, The hiker pause is a,ne of only two known residences remaining in Beaumont, Texas which are reminiscent of the Prosperity that existed in this community be:fibra the Spindlaetop oil boom in 1901. It was the abundance of timber that brought settlers and worker t to southeast Texans and to- Beaumont. Holmes [duke was one of these. men. A natives of Carthage, Texas, he moved to 'Beaumont from Sour Lake to about 1897 when the City was a bustling lumber canter and later established Duke's cafe and hotel. He butlt" hfs" p`rb*rrii• tri ath 'QU4iis 1 Alihe-sty te.'ll 'aoor bxtniateily l etes in What was then a now and f'tshionable neighbor -hood in eaumont.: • 9•..ri .4Rt 1 ' a j r , When Holmes Duke arrived in Beaumont he had been the proprietor of a cafe in ,Sour Lake-, Texas and In Kansas City, Missouri. In 1901, the time of the Spindletop of t broom, he was the owner Of CDuke's Restaurant and Hotel located on the corner of Paean and C'rOckrwtt Streets in the heart of downtown Beaumont. Duke's Hotel and Cafe!was evidently a popular meeting place. According to the Beaumont Enterprise, at the time of the Spanish-American War (1698) Guks served Tjaddi Fid6giBvelt �And the Rough Riders at his cafe when the cavalry unit passed through Beaumont on their way franca San Antonio (where they had bia�rt`r*eo'"ruiteccl'j to Cuba. It is eiasy to assuma that Mr. Duke w" successful. The hotel and, restaurant were only one block W&h'thgralI station where "boomers" disembarked locking for oil riches. Ouring 1901 the population in Beaumont increased from 9, 000 to over 50,000. Hotels were so full they ranted their lobby chairs months in advance. At some later date, Holmes Duko sold the cafe to E. T. Fuller who operated it as Fuller's Cafe for many years. - Mr. Duke served as a city councilman for four years and was mayor pro-tem in 1910 shed 1911 . Aftep„sellinsg the cafe, he worked for several years for the Southern Pacific and SaiArtts Fe railroads as as tool and diernakaer. Mr. Duke was somewhat of an inventor. According to his obituary in the Beaumont Journal, his inventions included the vacuum cleaner and also concrete street signs, many of which are still in use in Beaumont and neighboring cities. in the First World War he served as a dollar -la -year man who worilued with as group of technicians to perfect a hand grenade, During World War it he Was &.naval inspector at the TaxFas'Skeal plant near Port Arthur. 'At this same time he won two citations and recognition from the War Department for having,, ''...successfully put the finishing touch" on bombs which aboard a ship ,sank three Japanese ships during the battle of the Ccrval Sea." (Beaumont Enterprise, February 11 ,, 1 1946). NOS FWW MOWM OM8 ft =4-*M 1W . GRO, 0-M-54 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, Inventory —Nomination Form Continuation shag ' Significance Item number page Mr. Duke built his house in a subdivision known as Calder Addition. This subdivision was Filed of record July I , 1889, and quickly becarne a fashionable middta-class neighborhood. The house, located on its original site, remained in the Duke Family until 1980. It has been sold three times since 1980 and Is now scheduled for restoration. The other known residence in Eleaumont surviving from thie period is the Sanders House, built in 1896 and listed on the National Register. The Sanders House is also on its or%tgtnal site, located about one half mile .east of the Duke House. The Duke House has been givem, a rating or 60, the highest category in the SPARE Beaumont Survey, an architectural and historical inventory of the city's most significant structures. These structures amcl/or groupings of structures represent the finest examples of historical architecture in $eauriont. Most are included in this grouping 'because they are good examples of an architectural style and a positive element in the fabric of a nelg'hborhooa environ- ment. The PriOzitY sui3j0cts are most worthy of preservation efforts as they are tangible elements of Beaumont's former era.. The years of Beaumont's 19th-Century commercial prosperity is evidenced by the remnint, commercial groupings of late Victorian buildings in the-. downtown,district. The two-story row of facades in the 200 block Of Bowie .(A-2) and the magnificent facades row -in the 200 block of CrOCkett.(A-64) are all that remain in ' intact groupin' an 9 of a flourishing historical commercial dis'trict. The 200 block o.f Crockett (A-64) is esPecially important because'it is the only entire block in downtown Beaumont with an intact 19tb-Century facade''." row. The cast-iton facade elements at 202 Crockett (A-64) are of historical as' weal as architectural significance and the very last. of this type of detailing, in the entire city . A structure. such an the Heisig Building (A-43) in the 900 block of Pearl is 'equally as important because of its unique detailing and texminus for the downtown district at tho upper end of Pearl Street. Beaumont is fortunate, to still possess good examples of J' to Victorian - residential architecture; although there are' only a few representa— iives still in existence. The earlier Victorian homes such as the '.'McFarland 'Eame at 129,1 College .(C-8)., the Cunningham Home at'835 Willow (Z-7) 2 1862- Magnolia (F-5) and 2121 Grand (F-10j display the. Sim pler Carpenter style Victorian with typical gingerbread detailing." The Sanders Rome at 474 Pine is included in this grouping of simpler .7­,­frame structures but should be singled out because of unique wood '.d6tailing. Two larger homes, at 950 Avenue B (C-44) and 624 Irma (B-r2)..i11v*tratq the transition from these simpler homes to larger and more refined substyles Of the Victorian architecture in Beaumont.".. The Kyle House at 15310 Sabine Pass (B-33) is a very fine example of the high Victorian period and is the: only remaining structure in this style in Beaumont. Important structures such as the Hindbee Upme at 1814 Park (8-27) and the Buford -Barr House at 1675 Sabine Pass (B-45) . although constructed in, the same period, -as the Kyle mouse, ,'axe representative of a category of the Victoriadri style known as Queen Anne and do not remain to be strictly classified in the high Victorian style. This 'emphasizes their IMPOi rtance as well an that of the Kyle House.' As the Victorian style gave we ay to th influeeancof the twentieth century, transition styles were utilized combining the form and composition elements of the former with the more ordered detailing of the latter. This can be,dbserVed'ini several , as structures auch:., the Lipscomb" Norve Ll Horne at. 1695-milam, (C-15)r.the house' at. 1594 Blanchette (c-22) and very refined 'residence. at 694 Forrest (E-34) ell 22 GENERAL INFORMATION/PUBLIC UTILITIES APPLICANT: Paul Chargois PROPERTY OWNER: Same LOCATION: 694 Forrest EXISTING ZONING: GC -MD (General Commercial Multiple - Family Dwelling) PROPERTY SIZE: .32 acres, more or less EXISTING LAND USES: Commercial FLOOD HAZARD ZONE: "C" - Minimal SURROUNDING LAND USES: SURROUNDING ZONING: NORTH: Church GC -MD EAST: Residential GC -MD SOUTH: Residential GC -MD WEST: Residential CC -MD COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: Conservation and Revitalization OTHER PHYSICAL FEATURES: House constructed in 1899. STREETS: Forrest St. is a 70' residential right-of-way With a 27' wide pavement. North St. is a 65' collector right-of-way with a 27' wide pavement. DRAINAGE: There is a 24" storm sewer in Forrest. WATER: There is an 8" water line in both Forrest and North. SANITARY SEWER SERVICE: There is an 8" sanitary sewer line in Forrest. GENERAL INFORMATION/PUBLIC UTILITIES continued FIRE PROTECTION: ADEQUACY OF SERVICE: Fire protection••••, is provided by Station #1,747 College and Station V, 1700 McFaddin, Services and utilities are adequate.