Brent Hyder for the restoration of Fairview, the home built by William J. Bryce in 1893.
The Chateausque-style house with Richardsonian Romanesque details named Fairview at 4900 Bryce Avenue was the home of Scottish immigrant, William J. Bryce and his wife, Catherine. The house was designed by the prestigious architectural firm of Messer, Sanginet and Messer in 1893. Designated Demolition Delay by the city of Fort Worth, Fairview is also a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Bryce served as mayor of Fort Worth from 1927-1933 and died in 1944. The house underwent many insensitive changes by a series of owners. Fairview deserved an owner who understood its grandeur in its original state, and that person was Fort Worth’s own Brent Hyder, who bought the property on July 1, 2014.
No Stranger to challenging restoration work, especially in the Fairmount neighborhood, Brent got to work. Inappropriate paint was removed from the handmade bricks on the house’s exterior, the upstairs sleeping porches had been walled-in to create dressing rooms were reopened and return to their original purpose, paint was removed from the woodwork to reveal the original long-leaf pine, dropped ceilings were removed and fireplace mantles that had been separated were placed in their appropriate locations. The restoration projects took three years, and made it possible for Brent to move in this July 15th.
