{"nrhp_refnum":"12000589","name":"Foster, Eldred W., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"9608 Heron Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fort Worth","county":"Tarrant County","state":"TX","lat":32.79716622900003,"lon":-97.48641076199999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-08-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-story Ranch-style modern house at 9608 Heron Drive on the southwest shore of Lake Worth in Fort Worth, Texas, built in 1951 by Eldred W. Foster from published plans, with a later two-story garage building.","why_significant":"The house appears to be the first documented residence built from the \"Expandable House\" plans published in Woman's Home Companion in January 1948, designed by Antonin Raymond's firm with chief designer David L. Leavitt. It is considered the only representative work of Raymond in Texas and shows Japanese design influence. It also illustrates how shelter magazines spread modern, affordable, expandable housing in the post-war period.","narrative":"Overlooking the southwest shore of Lake Worth in Fort Worth, this small post-and-beam house was built in 1951 by Eldred Foster, a design engineer at a nearby aircraft plant. He followed plans for an \"Expandable House\" published in a 1948 national magazine and designed by the firm of Antonin Raymond, with David L. Leavitt as chief designer. The roughly 1,700-square-foot dwelling has vertical cedar siding, limestone walls, steel casement windows, a row of clerestory windows and a massive stone hearth at the center of an open plan. Japanese influences appear in the entry garden, sliding closet doors and open interior. Foster added two extensions around 1958, and a garage with an apartment was completed in 1955. The house retains nearly all of its original exterior and interior features. It was recognized for architecture because it is an excellent example of an architect-designed post-war house and appears to be Raymond's only representative work in Texas.","period_of_significance":"1951-1958","architect_builder":"Raymond, Antonin; Leavitt, David L. (architects); Foster, Eldred W. (builder)","architectural_style":"Modern Movement: Ranch Style","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Currently used as a single dwelling with a secondary structure; it has retained a high degree of integrity and has had minor rehabilitation since 2010.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.841112-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/27/9734/40973427/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/12000589.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000589/120f4f7bb8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000589/120f4f7bb8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Fosterhouse","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_Elevation_9608_Heron_Dr_comp.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Fosterhouse</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_Elevation_9608_Heron_Dr_comp.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973427","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110002727"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/tarrant-county/foster-eldred-w-house-12000589/"}