{"nrhp_refnum":"80004128","name":"Broadacres Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"1300-1506 North Blvd. and 1305-1515 South Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Houston","county":"Harris County","state":"TX","lat":29.72707848850004,"lon":-95.3969599652971,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-04-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Landscape Architecture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 34.17-acre residential subdivision in the South End of Houston, Harris County, Texas, laid out in 1923 along North and South Boulevards. It contains twenty-six houses, a privately maintained park and three parkway esplanades.","why_significant":"The nomination presents Broadacres as an enclave of 1920s residential development, notable for its planning, landscape architecture and fine eclectic domestic architecture. Work by Houston architects William Ward Watkin, Birdsall P. Briscoe and John F. Staub is represented. Its park-like esplanades are also described as a public amenity in a city short of green space.","narrative":"Broadacres is a 34-acre residential neighborhood in Houston's South End, near Rice University and Hermann Park. It was conceived in 1922 by attorney James A. Baker, Jr., and his father, Captain James A. Baker, who sold the tract in 1923 to eighteen initial lot owners. Deed restrictions set house orientation, set-back lines and a minimum construction cost, and utilities were buried in conduits. William Ward Watkin designed the entrance posts, park and esplanades. Twenty-six houses stand on the two boulevards, eighteen built between 1923 and 1930. Many were designed by Watkin, Birdsall P. Briscoe and John F. Staub in Georgian, Tudor, Spanish, French and Italian-inspired styles, kept restrained enough to give the street a cohesive look. Landscaping by Fleming & Sheppard and Ellen Shipman added gardens, and double rows of live oaks line the esplanades. Construction paused during the Depression and resumed from 1938 to 1953 with compatible, simpler houses. The district was recognized for its planning, landscape architecture and architecture.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"William Ward Watkin, Birdsall P. Briscoe, John F. Staub, Briscoe & Dixon, Alfred C. Finn and others; landscape architects include Fleming & Sheppard and Ellen Shipman","architectural_style":"Eclectic domestic architecture (Georgian, English Tudor, Spanish-Mediterranean, French, Italian villa and colonial revival influences)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition, occupied, on its original site; land use is exclusively single-family residential. Sixteen of the eighteen oldest houses remain in virtually original condition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.074959-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/4/9724/40972404/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/80004128.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004128/c1ceac30aa-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004128/c1ceac30aa-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Ed Uthman, Houston, Texas, USA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Broadacres_Historic_District.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ed Uthman, Houston, Texas, USA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Broadacres_Historic_District.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972404","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q109999523"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/harris-county/broadacres-historic-district-80004128/"}