Title
Conduct a Public Hearing to Consider/Discuss/Act on the Request by Jim and Eileen Ryan for Approval of a Historic Marker for the House Located at 615 West Lamar Street.
Summary
MEETING DATE: January 11, 2012
DEPARTMENT: Planning/Historic Preservation
CONTACT: Guy R. Giersch, Historic Preservation Officer
Kevin Spath, AICP, Assistant Director of Planning
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff is recommending approval of a Historic Marker for 615 West Lamar Street.
PRIORITY RATING: The property is listed as a medium priority building according to the 1985 Historic Resource Survey. A medium priority building contributes to local history or broader historical patterns, but alterations have diminished its integrity.
ITEM SUMMARY: On January 3, 2012, the applicant submitted the necessary documentation to apply for a Historic Marker for the house at 615 West Lamar Street.
The purpose of the Historic Marker Program is to encourage owners of historic properties to become actively involved in the preservation of McKinney’s historic past through the recognition of historic events, people, and architecture. The applicant has submitted a written narrative relating history of the various families that have resided at 615 West Lamar Street and the role they have played in McKinney’s history.
The Houston-Ryan House, a 1½ story Queen Anne/Stick-Style (Eastlake) home located at 615 West Lamar Street, was constructed in 1899 by Cebe Houston and his wife Alma Frances Hill (married December 16, 1896). Cebe was in the grocery business in McKinney until the family moved to Dallas in 1902. The Houston’s sold the house to Dr. and Mrs. William Ervin Rucker that same year.
Dr. Rucker graduated in 1892 from Vanderbilt University Medical School and went on to complete post-graduate work at New Orleans Polytechnic. He moved to McKinney to practice medicine in 1900. Dr. Rucker was the official doctor for the western terminus of the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company and the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. He was a well-recognized diagnostician and continued to practice medicine up until his death in 1924. His wife lived in the house until she passed in 1937. While the Rucker’s owned the house, the only noticeable change to the footprint was the removal of the porch located on the south elevation around 1914.
After the deaths of Dr. Rucker and his wife, their granddaughter Fannie Jim Rucker Alderson inherited the house in 1937. The Alderson’s sold the house in 1941 to Clyde and Arlyn Fagg, who sold the house two years later to Joe and Bessie Anderson. While the Anderson’s lived in the house, the brick chimney collapsed, and the home was moved on its foundation due to the tornado that came through McKinney in 1948. The Anderson’s did not reconstruct the chimney or attempt to straighten the house on its foundation. They owned the house until Bessie Anderson’s death in 1968.
Upon Bessie’s death, the property was deeded to the Episcopal Church of Dallas. The Church kept the house for two years and then sold the property to General and Mrs. John A. Warden who lived next door. General Warden removed the large porches that were on the north and east elevations and converted the house to a duplex. The historic photograph of the house shows the ornate spindle-work associated with the porch. What remains of the porch on the north elevation of the house provides clues to the porch that was once there.
Other features that can be seen in the historic photograph include the bracketed architrave with trellis infill located in the north gable and the gables with fish-scale shingles on the east elevation. Both of these features are still there today. At some point, the dragons-back ridge pieces (made of pressed tin) were removed. It is not clear if the Warden’s removed these pieces or not.
In 2002, the Warden’s sold the house to Mr. and Mrs. Jared Gilbert. The Gilbert’s maintained the house as a duplex for a brief period of time but eventually restored the house to a single family dwelling. During the conversion of the interior back to a single family dwelling, the original stick and ball staircase was revealed. Most of the interior trims are still intact.
In December 2010, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Ryan purchased the home from the Gilbert’s. Today, the Ryan’s continue the interior restoration of the house with plans to eventually restore the porches.
ASSESSMENT: Staff believes that the applicant has met all of the requirements to obtain a Historic Marker under the Historic Neighborhood Improvement Zone Program (Ordinance 2008-04-030). Therefore, Staff is recommending approval of a Historic Marker for 615 West Lamar Street.
Under Ordinance 2008-04-030, if the HPAB approves the Marker, the applicant will be responsible for purchasing and displaying the Historic Marker.
Also, under Ordinance 2008-04-030, if the HPAB approves the Marker, the applicant may make application for a Level 1 tax exemption (100% exemption of the City’s ad valorem taxes, for a period of 15 years) providing the building has architectural integrity and has been properly rehabilitated/restored and maintained.