Commission approves removal of masonry ruins at Horton Duvall site, citing safety concerns

The Historic Landmarks Commission on Sept. 3 approved a certificate of appropriateness authorizing the respectful removal and recycling of the masonry remnants at the Horton Duvall House site at 6706 Bluff Springs Road, citing an imminent public-safety hazard after decades of deterioration.

City staff and the Texas Historical Commission reviewed the circa-1852 stone ruins and concluded the remains no longer retain sufficient integrity for local or state historic designation. Marlena Wright, representing the Development Services Department’s Case Review and Escalations Division, told the commission the site carries the city’s oldest active Building and Standards Commission order (issued 1998) and that repeated stabilization efforts have failed; staff said people had been camping in unstable wall cavities.

Kim McKnight, division manager for historic preservation, recounted a recent multi-agency site visit involving the city structural engineer, code compliance, the Texas Historical Commission’s architecture division and an archaeologist. The group concluded that removal of remaining walls with careful deconstruction and archaeological mitigation was the only feasible path given the structural instability and public-safety risk.

Commissioners asked about costs and liens; staff said accrued penalties from the BSC order totalled “probably over $300,000” and additional mowing, fencing and abatement liens had added several thousand dollars. Staff also said the city would pursue reuse and recycling of the quarried stone where practicable rather than landfilling it, and that an interpretive marker and archaeological survey were appropriate mitigations.

Staff noted that the historic zoning on the property will remain on the books, which preserves the city’s jurisdiction should a future owner seek to redevelop. The commission’s motion — to approve the certificate of appropriateness in concurrence with Architectural Review Committee feedback and the Texas Historical Commission response — passed unanimously by hand vote.

The commission and staff emphasized this was an exceptional case and not a precedent intended to alter the department’s general reluctance to approve demolition of historic landmarks. The Texas Historical Commission will move separately to remove the site from its Recorded Texas Historic Landmark list as part of the follow-up.