The Quapaw Quarter Association will host its annual membership meeting on Wednesday, October 2 in the Ottenheimer Theater at Historic Arkansas Museum.  The evening will begin with a 5:30 p.m. reception in the atrium, the membership meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m.  Nonmembers of the organization are invited to join at the door.

Board members standing for re-election this year are: 

Chuck Cliett

John Herzog

Gabe Holmstrom

Cheri Nichols

Shana Woodard

Following a short business meeting, the Greater Little Rock Preservation Awards will be presented to projects in SoMa, the Governor's Mansion Historic District, MacArthur Park Historic District and Main Street Commercial Historic District.  Anthony Black will receive the Peg Smith Award for his many years of exemplary volunteer work on QQA projects and programs.  Mayor Mark Stodola will receive the Jimmy Strawn Award.  Since 1980, the QQA has presented its most prestigious award to "someone whose efforts on behalf of the preservation of Greater Little Rock's architectural heritage are an inspiration to the entire community." 

Senator David Pryor will join the QQA as guest speaker to close out the evening. 

Click on photo to see more.

The QQA hosted its 49th Spring Tour of homes over Mother's Day weekend in Park Hill, North Little Rock.  It was a fantastic weekend with great company, good food and beautiful weather.  Guests had the opportunity to stroll Skyline Drive and tour five private homes:

Hiawatha Daniel House

238 Skyline Drive

This Spanish Colonial Revival house is known as the Hiawatha Daniel house and was built in 1929.  It is named for long time resident Hanna Hiawatha Daniel who lived here from at least 1951 until her death in 1988.  The first residents of the house were Don and Sadie Weathersbee who moved into the home in 1930.  Mr. Weathersbee owned a grocery store on 11th Street in Little Rock. 

This section of the neighborhood is known as Edgemont in Park Hill and was developed by the Justin Matthews Co. starting in 1927, six years after the first houses were built in the larger Park Hill Development.  Park Hill was the first major suburban development north of the river and the second in greater Little Rock after Pulaski Heights which was started in 1892.  It was advertised in sales brochures as the "Second Pulaski Heights" with even more advantages including closer proximity to downtown, greater elevation, better views, and level land.  One advertisement predicted "Skyline Drive, when completed, will be the finest scenic drive around Little Rock and the show drive of the county.  From every part of it one may see the twin cities and much of the surrounding territory." 

The Edgemont section was designed to compete directly with the Edgehill section of Pulaski Heights for the wealthiest home buyers.  The Edgemont homes were larger and more expensive than the homes being built in other sections of Park Hill and were claimed to be built to "Endure the ravages of time."  The development of Edgemont was ill-timed however, and only 16 homes were built before construction was halted during the depression.  Decades later many of the large Edgemont lots were divided into several smaller lots and other homes were built in the area. 

Justin Matthews, Jr. House

257 Skyline Drive 

Originally occupied by the son of the developer of Park Hill ,the Justin Matthews, Jr. House was one of the first houses built in "Edgemont," a section of Park Hill.  The house was intended to help set the pace for Edgemont's development by illustrating the scale of homes appropriate for the area.  Justin Matthews, Sr., a native of Monticello moved to Little Rock about 1911 and began development of Park Hill with the platting of the first few blocks in 1921.  The neighborhood eventually grew to encompass 1600 acres of land.  Justin Matthews, Sr. did not move to Park Hill from Pulaski Heights until about 1940 but his eldest son Justin Matthews, Jr. did live in the neighborhood with his family first on Plainview Circle and then moved to this house in 1928 at which time he was vice-president of the Metropolitan Trust Company.   

The home is a striking example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style.  It was designed by architect Max Mayer who was well known for his designs of large period revival houses in Little Rock during the 1920s.  As a San Antonio native, Mayer was well-acquainted with Spanish influenced buildings.  He was also chief designer of the Spanish style Quapaw Bathhouse in Hot Springs. 

Unfortunately, neither the neighborhood nor Justin Matthews, Jr. was able to ride out the Depression unscathed.  He lost the house to foreclosure in 1932.  Construction largely came to a halt in Edgemont during the 1930s, and when it resumed after World War II, the scale of development was considerably more modest than the example set by the Justin Matthews, Jr. House.

T. Wade Jeffries House

415 Skyline Drive

This Colonial Revival home is known as the Jeffries House and was built in 1931.  It was the last of the 16 Edgemont in Park Hill homes to be built by the Justin Matthews Company.  T. Wade Jeffries and his wife Lois bought the home in 1931 for $10,000 and lived here until they lost the house in 1937.  The home was later bought by Dr. & Mrs. Aura Clark and was Mrs. Clark's residence for forty years. 

The house displays many typical Colonial Revival characteristics such as the symmetrical front fa�ade and side-gabled roof but also has several more unusual characteristics such as the fieldstone veneer, recessed entry, and iron balcony that depart from the standard Colonial Revival style. 

The master bathroom has been recently remodeled.  The bedroom on the west end of the house, with the sink in the room, was designed as a maid's room. 

The back living room was not part of the original home.  It is a more recent addition that links the original house and garage and has been recognized by the Quapaw Quarter Association for how well it blends with the original structures.  The concrete pond outside the east doors is an original feature of the landscape design. 

McGrew Residence

436 Skyline Drive

The original house at 436 Skyline Drive was a Craftsman-style bungalow built by developer Justin Matthews in 1929 for Charles and Bertha Young.  Mr. Young was a road foreman for the Missouri Pacific Railroad.  The original house had a living room, dining room, two bedrooms, one bathroom, kitchen, and sunroom.  The lower level consisted of a garage and maid's quarters.  The exterior finishes were brick with fieldstone porch columns and walls and stucco gables.  There was a generous L-shaped front porch.  The house was designed by architect Frank Carmean and was Edgemont's lone example of Craftsman architecture.

From 1945 to 1974 the house had a series of owners, and the current owners, Rachael and Larry McGrew, bought the house in 1974.   The McGrews completed several remodeling projects over the years.  In 2007, the McGrews decided once again to modify the house to allow "aging in place" on one level.  Polk Stanley Architects developed a plan to convert the den to a master suite (with added bathroom) and add a larger den at the rear of the house.  The existing kitchen/sunroom was reconfigured for a laundry room and powder room.

Unfortunately, a fire broke out within a few weeks of the project's completion and much of the house was destroyed.  The owners decided, after considerable soul-searching, to raze the house and build a new one.  The current house, also designed by Polk Stanley Architects, was completed in 2009.  It was intended to be compatible with the original home's look with its brick, stone and stucco exterior finishes and the double-hung windows on the front facade.   An opencarport rather than a garage was used to preserve as much of the skyline view as possible.

Other features incorporated into the new replacement house design which reference the original home's Craftsman style included a covered Front Porch entry space with exposed wood structural members, exposed wood detailing in the roof gables, stone wainscoting trim, 'battered' support columns and a clerestory window above the main Living Room area.

Despite the home's "old style" look, its materials and construction reflect several energy-saving features.  Four 380-foot wells in the front yard are part of the geothermal system for heating, cooling and partial hot water heating.   This and other features have resulted in total energy costs of about $0.05 per square foot per month.

First Kirby House

(Also known as the Round House or the Boat House)

532 Skyline Drive

Kirby designed and built this dream house in 1948, 65 years ago, and called it The Round House.  He did most of the work himself, using backs of envelopes for his blueprints, according to his daughters.  He later built two other houses on Skyline Drive.

The Round House is set on two lots.  Symmetry and balance are very important to the house's design.  One of the front doors is faux, and the triangular garden spot in the center is original.  The windows-the sills are curved but the windows are straight. 

The entryway is small and dark and there are two small closets nestled within the walls.  The circular stairway that leads upstairs and downstairs begins here. 

The hardwood flooring in the Living Room is handmade and curved to fit the room.  Notice the great view of downtown Little Rock, also shown in a night photograph over the dictionary stand near the entrance. 

The two bedrooms down the small hallway are symmetrical and still have the built in furniture.  The master bedroom is to the left.  The bathroom still has original flooring, bathtub, tiles and dressing table.  The bedroom on the right has been altered to function as a TV room, a guest room, and a playroom for grandchildren.  The bathroom has been converted to a laundry room. 

The dining room also has built in furniture; it is best suited for four people but can fit a cozy eight.  It also had exquisite bowed flooring as in the living room.  

Click here fore more Gatsby in the Garden photos.  

The kitchen is known as the Glory Room by the owners.  The floor was designed by the contractor and fits the semicircular room.  Notice the built in cabinets and the original kitchen table.  There is a pantry and half bathroom built into the walls.  The pantry door is the only curved door in the house.

The QQA would like to again thank our 49th Spring Tour Sponsors:

Edwards Food Giant; Scott Heffington, Crye-Leike Real Estate Services; Stacy Hamilton, Pulaski Heights Realty; McKimmey Associates, Realtors; Mary Anne Salmon; Coplin, Hardy & Stotts, PLLC The Ritzen Group; Arkansas Democrat Gazette; The Villa Marre; Villa Marre Real Estate Group; Woods Group Architects; Arkansas Destinations; Centennial Bank; CM Construction, Inc.; Empress of Little Rock

We could not have hosted such a great tour without these in-kind donors:

About Vase, All-Clean USA, Big Orange, Boulevard Bread Company, Bussey-Scott Urban Garden, Capital Bar and Grill, City of North Little Rock, E's Bistro, Empty Vase, Fresh Market, Grapevine Wines and Spirits, Greg Steinsiek, Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, Mark Matthews, Mountain Valley Spring Water, North Little Rock Neighborhood Services, Park Hill Neighborhood Association, R&E Supply Company, Ristorante Capeo, Root Caf�, Southern Gourmasian, Stanley Jewelers Gemologist, Waynette Traub, ZaZa Fine Salad + Wood-Oven Pizza Co.

Tour Chair Rachelle Walsh and her committee did an outstanding job and we are thrilled to have them helping us out again for the 50th Spring Tour! 

If you remember the last post, Rocky and Bullwinkle had just taken over the Colorado mountain within which lies the NORAD defense system.

"Bullwinkle, I TOLD you not to push that button!!"

"Well, geez, Rock, it was blinkin' so red and pretty, I just HAD to do something!"

Here is a little Architectural Vestige that caught my attention two months ago at the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation's "Celebration of Barns" at the 1638 Bushnell Farm at the mouth of the Connecticut River in the town of Old Saybrook.  The picture is of a simple privy; an outhouse is the most basic, yet one of the most important pieces of architecture on the property. ANY property.  I mean, what would you do without it?

Photo by Jim King.

Well, here down in Arkansaw, we hold a terrible secret of our past in our hearts, and it has to do with privies. Or the lack thereof.

The southern rural lifestyle is well documented and just as well parodied, but the living-on-the-land-as-an-animal lifestyle is both apocryphal and truer than you want to know.

Arkansawyers (as well as other southern rural folk) don't like to discuss hookworms. Be careful of bringing up this particular subject in Razorback Country; they's a bit sensitive day-own here.

Hookworms are an intestinal parasite that are more disgusting than destructive, and they have an interesting and fun life-cycle. They start as eggs in your feces ((David Byrne asks "How did they get there?!" Wait, you'll be unhappy you asked). Once expelled, they hang out in loose warm soil until someone comes walking along without shoes. This, um, country person is looking for a place to lighten his load, so to speak.

But there is no privy! There is only that same stand of woods that the family has used for years, even though they continually move off to the left to avoid their, um, last leavings.

But it cannot be avoided. In three generations, they are treading on what othrs expelled decades ago. But that isn't where the little worms are. They are in Last Week's leavings. And they just walked over it.

Well, not you, but someone that lives that way. Unless the shoe fits. But they ain't got no shoes.

It's not that these people are stupid. They know enough to be able to live well off the land, to tune 1954 Chevy pickups, to dig a new well by hand or skin a groundhog. You'll be wishing one of these guys was your friend after The Big Collapse; they will live, service professionals like you will die. Because they know how to dress a muskrat.

But I diverge, or something that sort of sounds like that, and that usually smells bad. Back to the country.

These people didn't always dig huge deep holes and build a little house over it (SEE??! I TOLE you I'd come back to point!), and it wasn't because they were lazy. Well, they were and are, but that's because of the heat. It was because the land was so poor that these hillbillies (the better class refers to themselves as Mountain Williams, of course) had no permanent homes. Often tenant farmers or dirt farmers (buy it cheap, work it hard, leave after a few seasons), they moved along often. Moved is slow circles from their, um, movements, as well.

Here's the disgusting part. Oh, you thought you'd already READ the disgusting part, did you? HaHaHaHAHAHA!

So the state of Arkansas was pretty much infected with hookworms from the get-go; it's rough country with rough people, and they would walk through the dropping-grounds of yesterday with bare feet. The worm larvae would get onto their feet and enter their bodies by burrowing into their skin, following the bloodstream to the heart and lungs, then in a feat worthy of Houdini, would actually migrate to the pharynx (in the throat) to be swallowed into the alimentary canal. Taking up residence in the small intestine (in numbers), they suck blood, cause anemia, and make lots of little hookworm eggs. These are, as described elsewhere, expelled to become a neighbor to their mommas and uncles and brothers. A very successful career often follows for the whole family.

"Don't Nora Jean look kinder pale an' sickly, Clem? Whaddaya thank?"

"Oh, I dunno, CindyLou. She's always looked that way. So do you, an' me too. You seen the Sears catlog? I gotta go see a man about a dog.."

I can say these things because I have lived in a mountainside cabin in Carroll County, Arkansas. So there.  Nyah.

Arkansawyers hate to even acknowledge hookworms, and often deny their existence within the state's history, but it's all true. Probably worse than I'm telling here. But we are supposedly hookwork-free now, as a state.

Well, some of us are. I know about ME. I haven't walked in my own leavings for two, maybe three weeks now.

The privy in the picture is unlikely original, but it is old. The exterior sheathing is a 1 x 6 single-bead tongue-in-groove wood, likely longleaf pine, and by the paint layering, bottom-of-the-board deterioration, and exposed stone foundation, I'm guessing that it is likely quite a bit less than two hundred years old. But it may very well be in the same location as the original from 1678. Close to the house so the homeowner could get to it easily and quickly, even in the deep snows of the old days.

Hey, when ya gotta go, ya gotta go.

Hookworms be damned.

Want to buy me a drink, or, more likely, have my baby? Too bad; I've been fixed. 

But you can write me  at oldhousedoctor@gmail.com and tell me where we're drinking that night.

Photo by Jim King.

The Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas invites you to embark on a journey to explore the rich history of the Arkansas River Valley.

What:      Join the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas for a tour of enduring historic communities in the Arkansas River Valley.  A motor coach will depart at 9:30 am from Little Rock on October 19 and return that evening.

Full ramble registration includes transportation on motor coach; Brunch at a historic diner; tour of Subiaco Abbey, tour and tasting at the Cowie Wine Cellars and Vineyards and Arkansas Wine Museum in Paris; tour of the 1906 St. Boniface Church in Bigelow; and a special evening event with a traditional spaghetti supper in Little Italy and program on the history of this enduring community.

When:         October 19, 2013

Where:        Little Rock - Start the trip with a drive through the historic German neighborhood of Little Rock and hear about the businesses and institutions that supported the community throughout the 19th and early 20th Centuries.

                  Russellville - Enjoy brunch in a 1947 Art Moderne-style diner with a program by David Ware, Arkansas Capitol Historian, on the history of Prohibition in Arkansas.

                  Subiaco - Tour the exquisite Subiaco Abbey and grounds with Father Aaron Pirrera, OSB. Learn about the Benedictine Monks who founded the Abbey in 1878 and the German Swiss migration that helped shape this area.

                  Paris - Visit the Cowie Wine Cellars and Vineyards for wine tasting and snacks also tour the Arkansas Wine Museum with founder Bob Cowie.

                  Bigelow - Tour the 1906 Carpenter Gothic St. Boniface Church, a parish that historically consisted mostly of immigrants from Germany, Switzerland, and Ireland

                  Little Italy - Enjoy a traditional spaghetti supper prepared by parishioners of the St. Francis of Assisi Church in Little Italy and a talk by Christopher Dorer, author of Boy, the stories I could tell: A narrative history of the Italians of Little Italy, Arkansas

Register:      Get tickets on PreserveArkansas.org or contact Amara Yancey at ayancey@preservearkansas.org or 501-372-4757. Reservations must be made by October 11.

Cost:          $100 for HPAA members
$125 for non-members (includes a discounted individual membership)
$200 for Sponsors (includes listing in ramble program and priority bus seating)

The Historic Preservation Alliance is the leading statewide non-profit organization dedicated to preserving Arkansas's architectural and cultural heritage. For more information about the Alliance and becoming a member, contact Vanessa at 501-372-4757, vmckuin@preservearkansas.org, or visit PreserveArkansas.org

Much has been said over the last 12 months about fences and walls in the Governor's Mansion Historic District.  Also walkways and trees and signs and parking spaces.  Indeed, there's been extensive debate lately regarding the details of the district's historic (and future!) character.  To be honest, I'm glad the neighborhood is having these discussions about details.  At least we no longer have to debate the big picture question of whether the Governor's Mansion Area should even be preserved.

As most readers of the Chronicle will know, the Capitol Zoning District was expanded in the late 1970s to include the neighborhood around the Governor's Mansion.  At that time, the Mansion itself was still fairly new, but the area around it had become deeply disinvested over the previous decades.  The General Assembly determined it was a priority for all Arkansans to have stable neighborhood surrounding the executive residence.

The nascent preservation movement, nevertheless, faced an uphill climb in making the case for the Governor's Mansion Area as a candidate for preservation ... and by a state agency, no less.  While it was easy to agree that the area surrounding the State Capitol represented the shared heritage of all Arkansans, it was less obvious, particularly to legislators from rural districts, why the Governor's Mansion neighborhood was worthy of protection by a state-administered zoning authority.

Fast forward a generation or so, and I think the preservationists have made their case.  A formerly declining neighborhood is now a thriving community.  The Quapaw Quarter, once widely considered unsafe and undesirable, is again one of Arkansas's preeminent neighborhoods.  The recent revitalization of the SOMA corridor has been especially inspiring.  While this reinvestment has been accomplished overwhelmingly by investment from the private sector, it's important to note the role of rules from the public sector.

I've said it here before, but it's worth repeating:  real estate is an investment vehicle.  There's a common misconception that investors fear risk, but that's not quite true - investment will take risks if the reward is right.  What investors flee from, rather, is uncertainty.  More than any other investment, the value of real estate is determined overwhelmingly by the value of surrounding properties.  Rules can serve to minimize uncertainty by ensuring that all property owners will be held to the same standards.  So by minimizing uncertainty, rules attract real estate investment.  This phenomenon can be observed in suburban settings (in the form of covenanted subdivisions) and city centers, in the form of preservation & design overlay districts:  Rules, when based on community input and applied fairly, make neighborhoods better.

It was suggested in the last legislative session that Capitol Zoning may have accomplished its mission and outlived its usefulness.  A few trouble spots notwithstanding, the blocks surrounding the Governor's Mansion have been largely revitalized.  Homes are occupied by families, properties are maintained, and historic commercial and civic buildings are used by organizations that compliment the neighborhood's residential character.  The concept of discontinuing a state-administered intervention once its purpose has been served is not without precedent.  State government will, for example, take over a school district in distress and relinquish control when the local authority can again demonstrate the wherewithal to administer the district.

Should the same principle be applied to Capitol Zoning?  Is the local authority, in this case the City of Little Rock, ready to administer the historic areas surrounding the State Capitol and Governor's Mansion?  With no disrespect intended to many friends and colleagues in public service at city hall, I think the answer is no.  Or at least not yet. 

Ray Winder Field.  Woolworth's.  Center Theater.  Houses on Cantrell.  Massery Cleaners.  Houses in the Central High neighborhood.  Immanuel Baptist.  The Heights.  I regret I could go on... I don't cite these places to shame anyone, only to demonstrate that the City of Little Rock's policies and procedures have not been adequate to prevent the demolition of historic landmarks, nor to manage change in historic neighborhoods.  And while some of these places may not be considered special outside of Little Rock, many of the former landmarks represented stories and values shared by all Arkansans.

I also don't believe Capitol Zoning has accomplished its mission yet.  We've come a long way, to be sure, but there's still a long way to go.  The State Capitol Area, in particular, has struggled to see the revitalization underway near the Governor's Mansion.  And much of the progress to date has come with a very limited ability to enforce the Commission's rules.  Those rules could be applied more evenly - and by extension, could serve to attract more investment - if the Commission had more tools to ensure compliance.  (But that's a discussion for another column). 

So while I'm glad we have come far enough that we can debate the details of how best to preserve the Quapaw Quarter, the time may have come again for advocates to make the case why the state is best suited to the task.  Does the state get the job done better than the city?  Yes, I think so.  Is there still more work to be done?  Again, yes.

But does the Quapaw Quarter still represent the shared heritage of all Arkansans?  Do the neighborhoods surrounding the State Capitol and Governor's Mansion still represent Arkansas's history and values to the extent that zoning is best administered by the state?  This is the case the preservation community will have to make in the coming months.

The Quapaw Quarter Association's mission is to promote the preservation of Little Rock's architectural heritage through advocacy, marketing and education.

Incorporated in 1968, the QQA grew out of an effort to identify and protect significant historic structures in Little Rock during the urban renewal projects of the early 1960s.  Throughout its existence, the QQA has been a driving force behind historic preservation in Greater Little Rock.