Demolition by Neglect

This house at 208 S. Austin Ave. is one of the worst cases of demolition by neglect in Georgetown. Recently, a tarp had to be put over part of the roof because it was in such bad shape.

This house, which is known as the Louis P. Imhoff house, is one of the oldest houses in Georgetown. It was built around 1890 and is on the National Register of Historic Houses.

Twin Houses

We heard an interesting story on this year's Heritage Society Holiday Home Tour. One of the houses on the tour was J.G. Mullen House at 1305 Olive St. (top). In the 1950s, this house was converted into a tri-plex and was rented to students for some 30 years. In 1987, a new owner purchased it and wanted to return it to its original condition. As luck would have it, there is an identical house at 1602  Main Street (bottom) that the owner was able to look at to see what her house originally looked like. The house has now been beautifully restored.

Improvements Coming

The new owners of this house at 1804 Ash Street are planning a major renovation that will be a huge improvement.

Moving

At its Dec. 11 meeting, HARC approved the relocation of this house at 214 W. 3rd St. The house, which was built around 1910, is being moved to make room for new development.

The C.W. Bailey House

Recently I had the opportunity to get a look inside the C.W. Bailey House at 1703 Olive St., which is one of the houses I have photographed as it was undergoing renovation. The house is one of five that will be on the Georgetown Heritage Society's 2014 Holiday Homes Tour this weekend. You can read a story I wrote about the recent renovation of this house in today's issue of the Williamson County Sun. Unfortunately the Sun did not run any photos with their story, so I am including before, during and after photos with this post.

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Destroyed by Fire

Just a few years after it was restored, a fire has seriously damaged the house at 1818 Church St.

Previous owner Marc Truxillo had lovingly restored the house before he restored his current house on Myrtle Street. Here is what it looked like just after it was repainted in 2013.

1008 Rock St.

A former house at 1008 Rock Street has been renovated and turned into a neat business. The new owners have done a great job with both the house and the landscaping. You can see what the building looked like before renovation in this post from July 2013.

Almost Done

The new house at the corner of Ash and 7th Streets, which I first mentioned last November, is almost done.

Moving?

It looks like this house at the corner of W. 16th Street and Hart is getting ready to be moved.

401 Myrtle St.

The house at 401 Myrtle St. changed hands this year after being in the same family for a long time. It appears that the new owners are undertaking a major renovation/expansion of the house.

Up for Renovation

HARC will hear a request next week from someone who wants to remodel this house on Austin Avenue.

Demolished

The house on South Church Street that I talked about in a post in June was demolished last week.

Gone

The two houses on 2nd Street that I said were going to be demolished came down last week.

Demolition Request

Someone has put in a request to tear down this house at 1912 Church St. While I usually hate to see houses in Old Town being torn down, this is one that I won't miss - and I'm sure the neighbors won't either! Someone will have a nice corner lot to put a more attractive house on.  HARC is scheduled to hear the demolition request June 26.

The Hugh Barron House

The Hugh Barron House at 1263 Austin Avenue is undergoing renovation. According to the Georgetown Heritage Society's "Historic Homes of Georgetown" brochure, this house was built by the Belford Lumber Company for local painter Hugh Barron and his family in 1910.

More Apartments Coming?

Pending HARC approval, this house at the corner of Austin Avenue and 2nd Street and the one next to it will be torn down to make room for another apartment complex along the San Gabriel River.

1221 Main Street

Old timers in Georgetown remember when this house at 1221 Main St. was owned by a man who operated the best nursery in town in his back yard. Today, the house is vacant but was recently sold. I had the opportunity to see it while it was on the market, and it is definitely one that realtors would say has "lots of potential."

If whoever bought it has plenty of money, this house could be fixed up to look as nice as the house next door to it.

New B&Bs coming

Georgetown is soon going to have two new bed and breakfasts right across from each other on Church Street. The building that housed the former Church Street Salon and Spa was sold and is now operating as a bed and breakfast called the Sweet Lemon. The house was recently repainted from blue to mint green.

In the meantime, HARC has approved plans for a bed and breakfast to be built on the vacant lot at  201 E. 9th St. Early renderings for the proposed building are shown below.

Recycled House

Norma Harris, the widow of Southwestern University English professor Jack Harris, told me a neat story this week about the house she and her husband built at 1402 Hutto Rd. She said some of the wood their house was built from came from one of the small houses that was torn down to make room for the new President's House at Southwestern (The Turner-Fleming House).

Getting bigger

The same thing is happening to this house at the corner of Myrtle and 5th Streets that we are seeing happen to a lot of other small houses in Old Town: People are buying them and putting on major additions.

The Maresh/Racket Store Building

This former commercial building-turned residence at 120 East 8th St. was the highlight of the Georgetown Heritage Society's 2013 home tour for me. I have been wanting to see it for years, and finally got the chance. It was well worth the 15-minute wait in near-freezing temperatures. What architect Tom Nichols has done inside the house is truly amazing. Even though the house only has about 800 square feet of living space, they have managed to pack in an entry room, a living room, a dining area a kitchen, a bedroom, an office and an amazing bathroom.

The W.C. Vaden House

This house at 711 E. University Ave.  has several interesting connections to Southwestern University. It was originally built in 1908 for classics professor Wesley Carroll Vaden, who was Southwestern's longest-serving professor until recently (that honor is now held by retired math professor John Chapman). Vaden was married to Kate Lockett, the daughter of prominent businessman Melville B. Lockett. An interesting historical tidbit is that Lockett moved to Georgetown so his daughters could attend Southwestern University. Three of his daughters ended up marrying professors at Southwestern.

After Vaden died, Kate (Lockett) Vaden rented out one of the rooms in the house. Among the people who lived in this room was Iola Bowden, a very famous Southwestern professor in her own right. Bowden taught piano lessons to the young Ellsworth Peterson, who went on to become a distinguished music professor at Southwestern. Peterson himself lived in this house for six years before purchasing the house across University Avenue.

This is one of the houses in Georgetown that was built by Charles Belford. It is currently occupied by a business, but they plan to sell it soon because they have outgrown the space. So if anyone is looking for an unusual Victorian house, look for this to go on the market in 2014.