Another 20th century home just north of downtown is poised to join Austin’s ranks of landmarked residences, with Historic Landmark Commissioners voting last week to initiate the site’s historic zoning.
The San Gabriel Street home was built in 1927 by the prolific Edwin Kreisle, whose architectural legacy remains on display at sites like Fulmore Middle School, the Lions Club Golf Course clubhouse, downtown’s remodeled Scarborough Building, and numerous early 20th century fire stations across the city. A popular figure among the well-to-do families of Austin, Kreisle crafted the home’s impressive facade in a Colonial Georgian Revival style befitting of the Honorable Ireland Graves, a district Judge whom it was commissioned.
Now, granted the case sails successfully through Council, new owners and entertainment industry power couple Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Shana Feste will enjoy an estimated $14,135 in annual property tax savings in exchange for its stewardship.
Kavanaugh-Jones, a film producer whose resume includes blockbusters “The Monkey,” “Longlegs,” and “The Bikeriders,” purchased the property in 2023 alongside wife and filmmaker Shannon Feste, whose hit podcast Dirty Diana has spawned a three-part book deal that hit shelves last November. Enlisting the help of Side Angle Side, a design firm known for their work on the trendy redevelopment of the Hyde Park Post Office, the couple debuted a head to toe renovation of the home’s interior at this year’s Preservation Austin Homes Tour.
Historic Landmark Commissioners voted unanimously to recommend landmarking, citing the home’s architectural significance and associations with the Graves family, who would go on to make history winning a legal battle between the State of Texas and federal government over rights to off-shore oil drilling. The case follows growing interest in more stringent preservation of the surrounding Judge’s Hill, one of several neighborhoods identified as eligible for local historic designation in the recently published Downtown Historic Resource Survey.
Yet others have levelled criticism at the generous tax abatements granted to historically zoned residences, particularly as Council faces a budget deficit prompting consideration of a property tax rate election this November. In a 2023 report published by the University of Texas School of Law, researchers found that quirks largely unique to Austin’s generous tax abatement program for historic structures equated to around $3.3 million diverted from the city’s General Fund.
While theoretically in place to incentivize preservation, researchers found that Austin’s program strays from peer cities like San Antonio, Dallas, and Fort Worth, where greater thresholds for demonstrating need and a time limit often capped at 5-10 years has bred more fiscally efficient preservation outcomes. In Austin, property owners accumulate these savings in perpetuity, even if they fail to pass city inspections, as is the case for nearly 17 properties identified in the study.
As policy watchdogs ponder avenues for reform, the Stedman-Graves House case will nevertheless proceed for a vote at the city’s Planning Commission, where owner-initiated cases historically fare well. From there, it will move to City Council’s agenda. Readers can take a look at the University of Texas study on the tax abatement program here.
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