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Pollock-Capps House

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1898, attributed to Howard Messer; 1991 restored, John Volz. 1120 Penn St.

An exclusive residential neighborhood, known as Quality Hill, developed on a bluff on the east bank of the Clear Fork of the Trinity River. All but three of the houses have been demolished and replaced with commercial construction. This house built for Joseph R. Pollock, a homeopathic physician, and his wife, Phoebe, is an exceptional Queen Anne structure. The two-story red brick house with white limestone detailing features an octagonal corner tower with a spire and delicate copper finial and a gable-roofed angled bay. The red and gray slate roof, chamfered corners, and flared gables add sophistication to the composition. A porch (rebuilt) wraps the southwest corner of the house to catch cooling breezes. The Pollocks sold the house in 1912 to Sallie and William Capps, who was a lawyer and publisher of the Fort Worth Register. The house was purchased in 1971 by Historic Fort Worth, Inc., which then sold it to architect Robert W. Chambers in 1974.

The brick Queen Anne house (1899, Howard Messer) next door at 1110 Penn was designed for Sarah Perry Ball and her son Frank. Banker William E. Eddleman bought the house in 1904 and in 1921 gave it to his daughter Carolyn, and her husband, cattleman Frank H. McFarland, who lived here until her death in 1978. She preserved the house from demolition by her refusal to move. Historic Fort Worth, Inc. purchased the house in 1984, and Austin architect John Volz oversaw restoration, which involved the exquisitely detailed but porous masonry walls. Red Texas sandstone, a common material in North Central Texas, is soft and subject to water damage over time. Spalling had affected the porch, and this was repaired along with inserts in the Pennsylvania pressed brick.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Gerald Moorhead et al.
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Citation

Gerald Moorhead et al., "Pollock-Capps House", [Fort Worth, Texas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/TX-02-FW25.

Print Source

Buildings of Texas

Buildings of Texas: East, North Central, Panhandle and South Plains, and West, Gerald Moorhead and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2019, 210-210.

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