A Neighborhood's Character Changes

Built in 1931, the house at 1131 Elmwood is one of the smaller ones on the street, with two bedrooms. Owned since the 1970s by Mary Brasher, the handsome brick house features a front porch and anchors the corner of Sylvan where it begins with the intersection with Elmwood. But alas, there is always pressure for bigger and better in a beautiful upscale neighborhood. A permit for demolition was pulled yesterday (August 19th). Our information is that the homeowners to the immediate south of the house would like to add on to their two story home and extend their yard.

Thankfully, teardowns are not as frequent in our area as they are in places like Highland Park. And not all teardowns are bad. But in most cases, preservationists (and usually neighbors) agree that they change the character of a neighborhood in a way that is not desirable. To read more about the fight against teardowns, read Teardowns and McMansions from the National Trust.

Some protection could have been provided if the property had Historic Overlay Zoning, available in Abilene. Overlay zoning is best applied for by the owners of the property. The APL's initial discussions with the Brasher estate representatives gave us some hope that they would apply, but later the representatives did not respond to our phone calls, perhaps indicating that the persistence of the neighbors to the south had had been effective in acquiring the property.