When Fort Worth began to make the transition from an abandoned military outpost to a proper town, its first wave of wealthy citizens made their homes to the northeast of downtown on a bend in the Trinity River.
This was Samuels Avenue. The area was once part of a plantation that, after several sales, became the property of Kentuckian Baldwin Samuels, the street’s namesake. This was in 1870, when the Chisholm Trail of legend passed through nearby Cold Springs Road.
Most of the grand Victorian mansions from the late 19th Century have fallen victim to tragedy — some succumbed to fire, others bulldozers — but there are a handful of notable survivors. That includes 731 Samuels Avenue, one of the most distinctive properties to come to market this year.
Not all of the dwellings in the new enclave were grand. At this stage of the city’s history, Fort Worth was egalitarian, with workers sharing the area with their better-heeled neighbors, erecting simpler shotgun-style houses.
This home is the quintessence of an urban oasis. The romantic residence in the Italian style has rhythmic corbels supporting the deep roof eaves. It’s set on one-and-a-half acres of enchanting, secret gardens that extend to the Trinity River.
The porch is supported by four Tuscan order columns. Unbelievably, the house has retained all of its original millwork and period details.
Built For a Banker
The listing claims that the house, known as the David Chapman Bennett House, was built around 1865. However, Mike Nichols of Lost Fort Worth dates its construction sometime in the 1870s.
David Chapman Bennett was Vice President of Fort Worth National Bank. The 10-story bank was built in 1910 and was described in a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article as a skyscraper costing $150,000. Bank president Captain M.B. Loyd’s dying words in 1912, were “Damn my soul, you’ll never fill that building.”
The building at 711 Houston Street did find tenants and in 1926 was doubled in size. This being Fort Worth, the Beaux-Arts style “skyscraper” has survived and is currently an office building.
Belying its somewhat stately demeanor, the three-bedroom, two-and-one-half-bath house is a relatively modest 2,500 square feet. A large debt of gratitude is owed to the current owners, who have lovingly and obsessively returned the gracious mini-villa to its original condition.
The living room, or should I say parlor, has one of three fireplaces in the house. A side bay window overlooks one of the charming gardens. The fine fireplace is original.
There are few rooms in the home, but ample scale gives a feeling of grandeur. This is visible in the spacious dining room that could easily accommodate a table seating 12 or more.
The kitchen might appear a tad tight by modern standards but is fully functional with up-to-date appliances including a six-burner Viking range.
Much of the woodwork was stripped of decades of paint to reveal the original finishes, including the gracefully winding banister. The landing offers uninterrupted enfilade site lines.
This is the largest of the three bedrooms with a cozy fireplace. Another is currently being used as a sitting/TV room and there is an additional small, extra bedroom. One gets the impression that the residence was built for one person or a couple with perhaps one child. Like many houses of this era, there is a back stairway for the servants. The carriage house at back has undergone an equally meticulous restoration.
The aerial view shows the property extending to the Trinity.
And there’s the rub.
The listing details open with a trumpeting “RIVERFRONT Excellent investor, development, or residential opportunity to acquire +/-1.472 acres of land.”
The area is red hot now, right at the center of the Trinity Vision Project near Panther Island, already the locus of intensive development. Adjacent to the property is a high-density residential development. With its river frontage, the one-an-one-half-acre plot makes the house’s future precarious even in preservation-minded Fort Worth.
For the moment we can enjoy the house and its delightful gardens as a nostalgic idyll — a bittersweet reminder of another time.
Gwen Harper of Briggs Freeman Sothebys International, is offering 731 Samuels Avenue for $2.3 million.
