Mather-Kirkland House
Why it's listed
Overlooking the Colorado River and downtown Austin, this Victorian house at 402 Academy was begun in 1889 by Myron D. Mather, a furniture dealer and president of the Austin Water, Light, and Power Company. It stands in Fairview Park, a south-side subdivision planned with winding roads and homesites on prominent points. The house has a red granite basement, reportedly built from unused stone from the newly completed State Capitol, with shingled upper walls, polygonal roof towers, gables and a molded brick chimney. Its mix of Queen Anne and Stick Style details is typical of the period. A square roof belvedere has been removed and an upper gallery enclosed. Later owners included a Supreme Court associate justice, and the Austin Military School occupied the house in the 1920s, after which the road became Academy Drive. An osteopath used it as office and residence for about thirty years. It was vacant by the early 1970s and for sale when nominated.
Significance in brief: The nomination presents it as one of the finest homes in the Fairview Park subdivision and an important landmark in south Austin. It combines Queen Anne and Stick Style features and used leftover granite from the new State Capitol. It also served as the Austin Military School in the 1920s.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 78002990, listed December 8, 1978. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 402 Academy, Austin |
|---|---|
| County | Travis County |
| Listed | December 8, 1978 |
| Reference number | 78002990 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1889 |
| Architectural style | Queen Anne and Stick Style (Victorian) |
| Areas of significance | Education, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Vacant since the early 1970s and for sale at the time of nomination; the original roof belvedere has been removed and the upper east gallery enclosed. |
| Acreage | 1 |
| Within district | Travis Heights-Fairview Park Historic District |
| Coordinates | 30.25206, -97.74385 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 78002990.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q110002378
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.