{"nrhp_refnum":"90001893","name":"Burford, R. F. and Lena, House","other_names":["#31"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"920 N. Penelope St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Belton","county":"Bell County","state":"TX","lat":31.064434680000033,"lon":-97.45871899299999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-12-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame foursquare dwelling with Prairie School details at 920 North Penelope in Belton, Bell County, Texas, built around 1909 for R. F. and Lena Venable Burford. A one-car frame garage on the property is also counted as contributing.","why_significant":"The nomination calls the house a textbook example of a Prairie School foursquare and an early local example of the American Foursquare type. It illustrates the early 20th century boom in middle-class house construction. It is significant locally under Criterion C in the area of Architecture.","narrative":"Built around 1909 at 920 North Penelope in Belton, this two-story frame house was built for R. F. and Lena Venable Burford. It follows the foursquare plan, with roughly square massing and four rooms per floor, and carries Prairie School details: a low hipped roof, broad closed eaves with paired brackets, and a wide two-story L-shaped porch wrapping the front and south sides. Paired boxed columns and porch joinery echo the Arts and Crafts style. Inside, oak woodwork survives in the entry hall, living room, dining room and stairway. A one-car frame garage stands at the northwest corner of the lot. The house was listed for its architecture, as an excellent local example of Prairie School design applied to a foursquare house. Mrs. Burford's family, the Venables, were partners in the Belton New Lumber Company, which may explain the house's classic form. It also reflects the early twentieth century growth in middle-class housing, and it remains in very good condition as a single-family home.","period_of_significance":"1909","architect_builder":"unknown","architectural_style":"Prairie School","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Described as in very good condition with most original architectural features intact; still used as a single dwelling.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:21.531188-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/45/9682/40968245/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/90001893.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001893/3c2a431ecd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001893/3c2a431ecd-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burford_house_2008.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:Burford_house_2008.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40968245","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110000889"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/bell-county/burford-r-f-and-lena-house-90001893/"}