Perry House gains historic designation

At its most recent meeting on March 6, City Council voted unanimously to designate the Perry House at 610 Baylor St. as historic. There was no discussion, but backup material indicates the home was built by Elton and Lucy Ann Perry in 1903. They also built the house next door at 608 Baylor St. The houses “are two notable and prominent examples of the development of Austin west of downtown generally and the Castle Hill neighborhood specifically,” according to their application. That document notes that “Elton Perry, who had previously worked as a machinist in Galveston and Harrisburg, served as an engineer for the Washington Fire Company, the second fire station in Austin. He would work closely with the city, including at one point being the engineer of the steam engine responsible for putting out the Texas capitol (fire) in 1881. After this, he advocated for and worked with bringing fire hydrants and infrastructure” citywide. Architectural historian Lori Martin of O’Connell Architecture worked on the application for historic designation. She also worked on restoring details of the home, which is set on a hill overlooking downtown and is shown as contributing to the West Line National Register Historic District and the city of Austin’s Castle Hill local historic district.