dallashistory

Link to Article: http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/d ... db35a.html

Article:

Oak Lawn's Oldest Structure Up For Sale, Raising Debate Over Whether To Save It

10:52 PM CDT on Thursday, October 22, 2009
By DAVID FLICK / The Dallas Morning News
dflick@dallasnews.com

The house for sale on a side street off Cedar Springs Road offers three bedrooms, hand-painted Mexican tile in one of its 3.5 baths, a solarium, a wet bar and probably as much history as any private home in Dallas.

Its owner, Jim Irwin, didn't realize just how much history until he looked out his window one Sunday morning and saw 25 strangers milling around his front yard.

"I walked out and asked them what they were doing, and they said, 'We just wanted to see the old church,' " the 60-year-old Irwin recalled.

As the oldest structure in Oak Lawn, built in 1874, its historical significance is clear.

But its proposed sale – which some fear could lead to a teardown – has prompted a debate among local preservationists: What makes a structure historic? Especially one that has undergone so many transformations.

The original building served as the first sanctuary of Oak Lawn United Methodist Church. As such, it also was the gathering place for the small settlement north of what was once one of Dallas' boundaries. Later, it became the community's school.

Still later, it was converted into the private home of Will H. Cullum, a member of what was even then among the area's most prominent families.

After living in the house for 15 years, Irwin, a designer, put it up for sale after deciding to move to the Northeast.

Neil Emmons, a member of Dallas' City Plan Commission who represents the neighborhood, is among those who worry about the house's fate.

"You could make the case that this is one of the most important structures in Oak Lawn. It's because of this house that Oak Lawn was born," he said.

"All we need is some developer who's trying to max out a parcel, and it's gone."

Pete Peabody, board president of Preservation Dallas, was more ambivalent.

The structure has been moved at least three times, possibly five, he said. Both its interior and exterior have been altered beyond recognition, and it no longer serves its original purpose.

Peabody said Preservation Dallas officials have not been approached with pleas to save the structure. He isn't sure how they would react if someone did.

"It would certainly make an interesting case if it came to the designation committee," he said. "I think its claim to historic status is pretty tenuous, quite frankly."

Beyond dispute, the walls of the house on Knight Street have seen a good bit of Dallas history. It was constructed in 15 days in September 1874 to house the Methodist congregation, which until then had met under oak trees overlooking nearby Turtle Creek.

A community grew around the little church and prospered, eclipsing the Cedar Springs settlement just to the north.

By 1890, the congregation had outgrown the initial church building. It was moved to Cedar Springs Road and Douglas Avenue, where it became Oak Lawn School.

(The history of the building for this story was taken from two books – Oak Lawn Vision: A History of Oak Lawn United Methodist Church by Charles G. Cullum and A Town Called Cedar Springs by A.C. Greene).

In 1904, Will Cullum, a son of the church's founding minister, bought the schoolhouse and moved it to a lot near the corner of Cedar Springs and Knight. Cullum had been farming in Mesquite but wanted to move closer to town and needed a structure that could accommodate his 13 children.

One of his three brothers, A.W. Cullum, founded a wholesale food business. A.W. Cullum's son, Robert, founded the Tom Thumb grocery chain in 1948.

"I remember going by the house, and my father pointing it out, saying that's where he grew up," said George Cullum Jr., Will Cullum's grandson.

The house went through several owners and was extensively renovated in the 1930s. Its owner in the 1970s operated an oil business out of the second floor and renovated it once again.

Today, the structure looks nothing like a church. There were originally two doors in the front. There is now only one, and a porch. A window has been punched in the second floor, and the bell tower is long gone.

Irwin said, however, that much remains of the original building.

Underneath the synthetic cladding lies the original wood clapboard, he said. Contractors who have opened the walls have found them stuffed with horsehair insulation.

The floors are original, though 14 decades of sanding has worn them down almost to the tongue and groove. The roof has been replaced, but supports for the bell tower are still visible in the attic, Irwin said.

The case reminds Theresa O'Donnell of the controversy surrounding efforts to preserve the former McKinney Avenue Baptist Church, which had since been transformed into the Hard Rock Cafe.

"It had an interesting life as a church, but then you looked at the stained glass window of Elvis, and it was hard to call it a historic building," said O'Donnell, director of the city's Development Services office, which oversees preservation.

Denied landmark status, the building is now represented by a vacant lot.

Irwin said he was approached by developers a few years ago about purchasing the Oak Lawn house and attaching the land to property occupied by an adjacent set of apartments.

The economy went sour before an offer was made, but Irwin said he was already inclined to turn it down.

"This is a special house, and I really don't want to sell it to somebody with the idea of tearing it down," he said.

Would he sell if the offer was alluring enough?

"It would have to be pretty dazzling," he said.

End of Article

What a neat story, Steve Thanks for sharing

The response of the Preservation-Dallas fellow is not very impressive. It is a common thing for old buildings to be moved and altered over time. Just what does he deem worthy of saving, I wonder?

Two older, happy stories ~ of the Churches of St Laurence (Wiltshire) and St Peter Ad Murum (Essex), in England. Though possibly built by Saint Aldhelm in the early eighth century, the spiritual origins St Laurence had been forgotten ... and the structure used as a schoolhouse and even a bone house - among other incarnations - over the centuries. Saint Peter served as a sturdy barn when no longer needed for use as a church. So, try to think long-term, Preservation Dallas

http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/adv ... von02.html

http://www.tours.com/videos.htm?v=3sm2wOOzLHk

And don't be frightened