Prairie-style Waggoner mansion, home of Fort Worth arts patron, named historical landmark
A rare westside Prairie-style mansion owned in the 1900s by a pioneering Fort Worth philanthropist will be preserved after the City Council designated it a historical and cultural landmark.
The mansion at 1414 Mistletoe Drive, first owned by philanthropist Sicily Ann Halsell Waggoner — for whom the fine arts building at Texas Wesleyan University is named — was recommended for the historic designation by the city’s Historical and Cultural Landmarks Commission in December.
Council member Elizabeth Beck said the designation would honor Ann Waggoner in remarks before the council unanimously approved the item Feb. 11.
Current owners Scott and Valerie Ewing requested the designation.
The 1.32-acre property near the Mistletoe Heights Historic District was recommended to be zoned as “highly significant endangered” in September 1995 by the Fort Worth Zoning Commission, but that designation was changed to “demolition delay” by the City Council after a hearing on Nov. 14, 1995.
Jerre Tracy, executive director of Historic Fort Worth, an organization that works to preserve historic structures in the city, said she was happy to see the mansion designated as a landmark.
“I think it’s great news, particularly since this one building could not be placed into the historic district because of its demolition delay designation,” Tracy said. “It’s a fine example of Prairie-style architecture with a large lot that cascades down to the Trinity River.”
Constructed around 1919, the two-story mansion is significant to the city because it is a “stunning example” of Prairie-style architecture from the late 1910s, according to a city staff report. The property — noted for its impressive size and geometric design — includes a two-car garage with an attached guest house and a cabin in the backyard that slopes toward the Clear Fork section of the Trinity River.
“Characterized by white walls and green tile low-hip roofs, its ground level was constructed of brick, while the second story is finished with stucco,” staff wrote in the report. “Despite several updates over the years, the original architectural features continue to retain their historical charm.”
Ann Waggoner moved to Fort Worth after the 1902 death of her husband Dan Waggoner, an iconic North Texas settler and cattleman, who with his son, developer W.T. Waggoner, owned five banks, three cottonseed mills and a coal company. The 20-story downtown W.T. Waggoner Building — listed in the National Register of Historic Places — was transformed into the 245-room Sandman Signature Fort Worth Downtown Hotel that experienced an explosion in January 2024.
Ann Waggoner was a major patron of Texas Wesleyan University, then known as Texas Women’s College, in east Fort Worth. She donated $35,000 to complete an auditorium at 1309 Wesleyan St., now known as the Ann Waggoner Fine Arts Building. In addition, she funded Dan Waggoner Hall — named for her late husband — a former dormitory built in 1917 at 1200 Wesleyan St. that now houses the college’s School of Education.
Her mansion, not included in the Mistletoe Heights Historic District, “is an excellent showcase of Prairie-style mansions and is considered an architectural gem that characterizes the neighborhood,” the staff report said.
North Fort Worth properties earn historic status
City Council members also approved historical and cultural landmark status for two other properties —- a Tudor Revival house at 1309 Grand Ave. in the 7-block Grand Avenue Historic District of north Fort Worth and a 1946 commercial building south of the Fort Worth Stockyards, at 1434 N. Main St., once known as the Castillo Building.
The Grand Avenue home, built in 1926, sits on a .51-acre lot with a two-level wood siding garage apartment in the descending backyard. The home is listed as contributing property to the historic district, according to a staff report. The district attracted middle class families and the houses “tend to be more substantial and better detailed” than typical northside homes, according to a city staff report.
The property was also rezoned as “J” medium industrial to “J/HC” medium industrial with historic and cultural overlay.
The Main Street building, originally named for developer Jose Castillo, will be rezoned from “J” medium industrial zoning to “MU-1” low intensity mixed-use for a commercial and residential development. Retail shops would be on the first floor while the second floor would have residential units.
The concrete block building — which has no distinctive ornamentation — is considered significant because of its social and commercial history to the near Northside as well as its connection to the city’s Hispanic community. The building once housed a barber shop, package store and a bar on the first floor with the Castillo Hotel on the second floor, a staff report said.
In 2001, the structure was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Marine Commercial Historic District. Marine, a historic community, was later incorporated into the city of Fort Worth. The Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission recommended historic designation on Jan. 13.
“It’s always good news when the designation goes up for endangered properties,” Tracy said, noting that Historic Fort Worth will release its 2025 list of endangered historical structures in May.
Eric E. Garcia is a senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
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