James-Robertson House, 322 West Fifth

Candlelight Party House

Architectural elements of the James-Robertson house are characteristic of grand homes built in Tyler during the first half of the 20th century. The façade of the two story brick home is dominated by the portico with a triangular pediment, which is supported by four classical columns. The face of the pediment is decorated with a stick design. The entry system includes a paneled door topped by an elliptical fanlight and is framed by sidelights. The historical landmark house is of the Classical Revival Style.

Clara and Louis James, local gas and oil attorney, built the house c. 1940, and the design was all Clara’s. The couple was proud of their home and entertained frequently. One of their daughters was married in the rear garden and a granddaughter’s wedding reception was held there.

Ownership of the grand home changed a number of times prior to the purchase by Jim, local attorney, and Becky Robertson in 1984. The Robertsons have added a circular drive facing Fifth Street and brick fencing in the garden to the rear of the house, converted the servants quarters to a refreshment center for entertaining and have opened the fireplace in the living room. Clara James had closed the fireplace during construction because she was concerned that sparks from the fireplace would destroy her favorite rugs.

There have been no structural changes to the exterior of the house. Inside the hardwood flooring, tile in the baths and cabinets in the kitchen are original, as well as the fireplace on the south side. A previous owner opened the butler’s pantry, kitchen and informal dining area to be one large space. The Robertsons have decorated the interior of their home with collections from Europe, particularly France, and engaged an artist to paint enchanting scenes on the ceiling of the dining room. Proudly, the Robertsons followed the James family tradition when their daughter, Natalie, recently celebrated her wedding reception in the garden of this historic house.

The James-Robertson house has received a local designation on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Harber-Ashworth House, 1312 South Chilton

The single family residence located at 1312 South Chilton, built c.1935, has an interesting history. Originally, it was built as a two family house arranged with a dwelling on each floor, each with an exterior access. Cecil and Mary Virginia Harber were the first owners and lived on the first level while renting out the upper level space and the garage apartment. The J.A. Finlayson family lived upstairs at the Harber house during the mid 1930’s. Chuck, still an Azalea District resident, remembers living there when he was a child. In 1937, Betty Brown, a teacher, lived in the garage apartment, according to the Tyler City Directory. Numerous tenants lived at this address until the 1980’s when the duplex was converted into a single family home.

Mike and Carol Allen purchased the Harber property from the family in 1983. Mike is a local attorney and Carol, an interior designer. Carol redesigned the house adding bathrooms, closets and utility space and a modern kitchen. The upstairs was converted into three bedrooms. No changes were made to the exterior with the exception of the enclosure of the front porch, now the foyer, and the replacement of the small window next to the entry.

Current owners, Jerry and Victoria Ashworth, have added a family room with fireplace to the back of the house. As well, the Ashworths converted the original garage building, equipped with manual carriage doors and a dirt floor into a modern two car garage with concrete flooring, storage space and an automatic door. The garage apartment has been remodeled and refreshed and is used as bonus space for the Ashworth family and guests. There is a new flagstone patio leading to the garden where the Ashworth’s daughter enjoys her new custom built playhouse patterned after the style of the family home.

Despite additions and a change to the entry, the brick house at 1312 South Chilton retains its original appearance from the street view. The style is Tudor Revival. The picturesque English cottage features asymmetrical massing of steeply pitched roofs. There is a single, tall end-wall chimney, which opens to the downstairs living room. The arched entry is trimmed with ornamental brickwork with a keystone accent. The single entry door is round headed with a small multi-pane glass panel.

Jerry and Victoria Ashworth are natives of the East Texas area and appreciate the charm of their historic home.

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Wilcox-Clyde House, 3031 Old Bullard Road

The Wilcox patriarch Melvin L. Wilcox was one of three businessmen in Saginaw, Michigan who founded the Jackson-Church-Wilcox Company in 1906. Following rapid success, due in large part to the inventiveness of Wilcox and his Jacox steering gear, the company was bought out a few years later by General Motors. Wilcox’ son and daughter-in-law, Melvin R. and Marion W. Wilcox, moved to Tyler from Michigan and built a new home in the Tudor Revival Style on Old Bullard Road south of the city. Mrs. Wilcox, mother of five sons, was active in Tyler civic and social affairs and is credited with being an inspiring force for the idea of a rose festival in Tyler. She had been impressed by the Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan.

An English architect helped design the Wilcox home, located on a multi-acre rural property. The unusual, rough-textured bricks used in construction are seconds imported from England. The exterior of the c. 1929 house features the half-timber Tudor design upper story and brick first story. A single dormer projects through the front slope of the gable roof. The paneled front entry door is covered by the roof of a breezeway, not original to the house, that joins the main house and an outbuilding of unknown origin, now the “Clyde Pub.” The two-level, end-wall porches have been enclosed as interior house space. The house design features a six walled room on two floors, with a fireplace in the lower room. A boiler to provide steam heat was installed in the basement, and the old cistern is located just to the rear of the house.

Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox retired to Athens, Texas to be near one of their sons. Several descendants still live in Tyler, including the Wilcox’s granddaughter who lives in her father’s home across the street from the Wilcox-Clyde house.

Current owners of the home are Thomas and Venona Clyde. Thomas is CFO at the Tyler Morning Telegraph/Tylerpaper.com, a publishing business the family has owned for five generations. Venona, a South Texas native, owned an antique business in Tyler for many years. Since purchasing the now one acre property in 2003, the Clydes have added space to the master bedroom suite by enclosing the second story east end porch, converted the informal dining area into a large modern kitchen and the former kitchen/den space, into a hearth room. A previous owner enclosed the first floor porch, which the Clydes use as a game room. The den was added prior to the Clyde ownership. The Clydes also have updated two small bathrooms, remodeled and expanded the master bedroom and rerouted a staircase leading to a third story bedroom, now an exercise/spa room, and attic space.

Previous owners, the Joe Barnetts, built a five car garage on the property to house his antique car collection. During the 1980’s Paul and Jean Ferguson added a utility room and the covered walkway to the carport.

For eight decades the Wilcox-Clyde Tudor style house with large windows and larger views has been home to Tyler residents. Once a rural dwelling, the house is now inside Loop 323 as Tyler has grown from a city of 25,000 in 1933 to a population of approximately 100,000 in 2009.

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Neil-Huggins House, 123 East Second

Ullman R. and Inez Neil were owners of the residence at 123 East Second in 1938. The property was part of the J.A. Bergfeld sudivision. Mr. Neil was President of the Neil-Simpson Drug Stores located at 218-220 Broadway and 314 West Rusk at that time. The drug stores were just the place for a good plate lunch or root beer float, as well a place to order prescriptions. Later six locations of the popular local chain, no longer in business, provided services to several generations of customers.

The Neil -Huggins house was built c.1935 in the Colonial Revival/Tudor Revival Style. The projecting vestibule, of Tudor style, is a large design element of the otherwise Colonial cottage style dwelling. The contrasting brick ornamentation of the vestibule is reminiscent of the Tudor style. A circular window with divided lights is integrated into the stickwork-like design. The end-wall porch at the east end of the house serves as a secondary entrance and is balanced on the west end by a porte-cochere topped by a vented cupola. The Huggins opened the former garage and removed the back side to allow a drive through to the new freestanding garage to the rear of the property.

Current owners, Jim and Cindy Huggins, have updated the kitchen and converted the small room with the circular window, of unknown original use, into a full bath. Additionally, the Huggins have completed two upstairs bedrooms which were left as attic space at time of construction. Most of the flooring in the house is original hardwood downstairs and heart pine on the stairs and second level. The single fireplace with original oak mantel is located in the dining room.

The use of the front rooms of the Huggins house have been switched. The larger room is now the dining room, as Cindy wanted more space for extended family holiday dinners. The smaller original dining room now serves as a cozy, intimate family room. A large second level bedroom has been converted into Cindy’s work room. Cindy is an accomplished seamstress. Jim, an environmental engineer, is owner of Huggins Engineering.

The exterior of the historic property has not been altered other than the change of the original garage into a porte cochere.

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Brown-Short House, 223 East Second

Steve and Belinda Short reside at 223 East Second in a Colonial Revival style house built c. 1940. Glynne Brown and wife Evelyn were the first owners of this address in the Tyler City Directory. In 1942, Brown is listed as a physician and surgeon with an office in the People’s National Bank building. Evelyn still lived there in the early1960’s.

M.H. and Gladys Shaw were the owners by 1962. Mr. Shaw was an independent oil man. Gladys Shaw is well-remembered as owner for two decades of the popular Glass Owl Antiques located on Vine Street. The carriage lights at the front entrance of her former home were installed by Mrs. Shaw.

The Shorts purchased the property in 2009 and have updated the house to suit their needs. The kitchen has been modernized with the addition of a large center island for Chef Steve, and the countertops are new. One bedroom has been converted into an office for Steve, who proudly uses his fathers antique roll top desk. The hardwood floors in the house are original, as is the fabric wallpaper in the formal dining room.

Defining architectural elements of the Brown-Short house are the intersecting gables, pedimented entrance and end wall chimneys. The ridge of the primary roof line runs parallel to Second Street. The smaller gable roof is placed at right angles to the larger gable. The front entry porch is slightly recessed into the front gable projection and the wall is topped with a pediment supported by four slender columns. The double end wall chimneys balance the Colonial design; however, there are no fireplaces inside the house, which was a big surprise for the Shorts.

Other surprises found in this historic house include an old brass post office box in the guest bath, a Gothic shaped window in the laundry room and a guest bedroom with exposed horizontally planked walls. The house was built before the use of sheet rock was popular.

None of the owners of the house at 223 East Second have altered the exterior.

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Saleh-Carmichael House, 1208 South College

The Spanish Colonial Revival Style house located at 1208 South College was built for newlyweds George and Rose Saleh by Hobart Plunket in 1932. The Salehs occupied their new brick home by 1933, but the address at that time was listed in the Tyler City Directory as 220 West Mockingbird. George Saleh worked as a salesman for Simon’s Candy Company, a family business on East Ferguson. Simon and Gabriel Saleh were among the first Lebanese immigrants to arrive in Smith County. Descendants still live in the area and are active in the community.

More recent owners include “Doc” and Willie Witt, Don and Bonny Edmonds and current owners, Mike and Patrice Carmichael. “Doc” Witt was director of the Tyler Municipal Band and later, local school bands and taught private music lessons at his home. The Edmonds made the house their own by decorating with Mexican folk art and furniture from their previous home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Don converted the apartment over the garage into his art studio. Patrice Carmichael is now the artist in residence. Her passion is creating detailed images in graphite, and her work is found in various spaces throughout the house and studio.

During the 1970’s, the kitchen of this historic Azalea District residence was updated and the downstairs bath, expanded. Original interior design elements and decorative features include: semi-circular arched doorways, plastered walls, hardwood flooring, the Arts and Crafts style living room mantel, and most ceiling fixtures and wall sconces. The exterior structural form is asymmetrical with cross gables. The end wall chimney is capped with the same gable shape as the house, is punctuated with rounded arch features and has an S shaped chimney iron. The arched porch doorways are framed with decorative pilasters, and the walls, finished with a stepped design.

In 2008, the Carmichaels planned an addition to the rear of their house visible from South College Avenue and a remodel in the kitchen. The Carmichaels submitted the exterior plans to the Tyler Historic Preservation Board for review and approval. The addition, which has stucco exterior walls, joins the house and freestanding garage and includes a master bedroom suite. It does not change the original appearance of the residence. The changes were approved in 2009.

Patrice and Mike Carmichael own Vintage Tyler, a group of rental properties located within the Tyler historic districts in addition to their home on South College. The Saleh-Carmichael house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been designated as a Tyler Historic Landmark by the city.