May is National Preservation Month. Established in 1973 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the month of May was named by President Richard Nixon as the month to discover and re-discover, honor, and share the unique heritage of our architectural history.

When First Lady Patricia Nixon presented the National Trust awards she read the Presidential proclamation:

“As the pace of change accelerates in the world around us, Americans more than ever need a lively awareness of our roots and origins in the past on which to base our sense of identity in the present and our directions for the future.”

As you know OHU50K was sparked by my passion for historic preservation.  The site’s primary purpose is preserving old homes, and whenever possible, sharing the stories  connected to those places.

So in honor of National Preservation Month, OHU50K will showcase one house daily that has been saved or is in the process of being saved.  Here is one such house as reported in the December 19, 2019 edition of the Dallas Morning News.

114-year-old historic home moved to Grapevine to make way for project

“Developers building a mixed-use project in Flower Mound moved a piece of history that was in the way.

Construction is set to kick off next year on the 40-acre Lakeside Village, which will feature shops, restaurants, offices and residences. It’s the last phase of the 165-acre Lakeside DFW development on Long Prairie Road on the northeast shore of Grapevine Lake.

The hilltop development site is also home to a 114-year-old farmhouse that was there before the lake was even built.

 

Lakeside Village developers Realty Capital Management of Irving and Dallas’ Peter P. Stewart Family donated the historic house to the nearby town of Grapevine, which help moved the building.

“We are really thankful that we can bring the farmhouse to Grapevine and that everyone is interested in preserving it,” Grapevine mayor William Tate said in a statement.

Constructed in 1905, the two-story house was built by settler R.J. Roberson and his wife Manie, who came to the area in 1890. The area was part of Grapevine until it was annexed into Flower Mound in the late 1980s.”

Roberson owned a large farming operation dealing with livestock. The farm covered 400 acres on the north side of Denton Creek. It was a lovely farmstead in a beautiful location where RJ lived until his death in 1933. His widow, Manie, lived there until her passing in 1961. The farm was passed down to family members.

The Stewart family bought the property with the house in 1987 from the Roberson’s great-grandson, Scott Tarwater.