{"nrhp_refnum":"79003016","name":"Smith-Clark and Smith-Bickler Houses","other_names":["Twin Houses"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"502 and 504 W. 14th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Austin","county":"Travis County","state":"TX","lat":30.27751616100005,"lon":-97.74477524399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-04-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Two matching one-story brick and cut stone Victorian houses at 502 and 504 W. 14th Street in Austin, Travis County, Texas, built about 1883-86 by James Baird Smith.","why_significant":"The houses are presented as excellent examples of small symmetrical Victorian residences with cut stone quoins and detailing rarely found in small houses in the area. They are also significant as the work of James Baird Smith, a locally significant Scottish-born builder who built the temporary State Capitol. The form says the houses were probably built partly from salvaged material from that project.","narrative":"Two one-story brick houses with cut stone quoins stand side by side at 502 and 504 W. 14th Street in Austin. Built about 1883-86 by Scottish-born carpenter and builder James Baird Smith, they were originally identical, each with a central hall plan, a central entry gallery with squared columns, segmental-arched windows, a hipped metal roof and corbelled chimneys. Smith had been the contractor for the temporary State Capitol in 1882-83, and the nomination suggests he built the houses partly from salvaged materials from that project, citing his contract and stone evidence found during restoration. Jacob Bickler, an early Austin educator, bought 502 W. 14th in 1893, and his academy may have used both houses. In the 1930s one house was divided into apartments and lost its central gallery. Both were being restored when nominated. They were listed as fine small Victorian residences by a locally significant builder.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"James Baird Smith","architectural_style":"Symmetrical Victorian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Both houses were undergoing restoration at the time of nomination; the 502 house had been altered into apartments in the 1930s, and the 504 house was being restored to its original plan.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.056206-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/89/9736/40973689/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/79003016.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003016/86da4e2625-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003016/86da4e2625-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smith_bickler_house_2011.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smith_bickler_house_2011.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100010021","name":"West Downtown Austin Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/west-downtown-austin-historic-district-100010021/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973689","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110000443"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/travis-county/smith-clark-and-smith-bickler-houses-79003016/"}