Mather-Kirkland House
402 Academy, Austin, TXBuilt in 1889 as one of the finest homes in the Fairview Park sub-division, the Mather-Kirkland House is an important landmark in south Austin. Typical of the Victorian period, the house exemplifies character-istics of a number of styles, including Queen Anne and Stick Style. The house utilized unused granite from the newly completed State Capitol (1888) and the house has had only minor alterations since that time. Several of the homes in the subdivision featured a masonry ground floor, but the Mather-Kirkland house is the only one using granite. In the 1920's the house served as quarters for the Austin Military School and the name of the road changed to Academy Drive to honor it.
The finest subdivision south of the Colorado River, Fairview Park, was planned by Charles A. Newning, William H. Stacy, and George P. Warner. The area featured meandering roads, rustic bridges, and home-sites on prominent points overlooking the city and surrounding country-side. Each of the promoters built homes for themselves in the addition and two of those homes remain today.
After purchasing several new subdivision lots Myron D. Mather began building his two story house in 1889 and completed the structure a year later. Mather had been a furniture dealer and served as president of the Austin Water, Light, and Power Company.
There was a succession of owners in the house from 1893 until 1920. Among the more prominent was Leroy G. Denman, who bought the house in 1897 while serving as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1898 the home was again sold and E. A. Franklin, vice-president of the Chicago Manufacturing Company bought the house.
For nine years during the early 20th century the Austin Military School occupied the house. Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Darsey bought the one acre property in 1920 and secured lease of an adjacent one and one-half acres for athletic fields and possible building expansion. Touted as Austin's only educational facility where courses were offered in military tactics, the curriculum also included courses in commerce, radiophone works, music, nature, as well as the fundamentals of academic training.
Following the closing of the military school in 1929 a lawyer. Dr. Joseph V, Fleming acquired the house. He and his wife Keziah and four grown children kept the home from 1931 until 1941. For a short period the house was empty, but in 1945 Dr. R. D, Kirkland, an osteopath, bought the home and used it as his office and residence for almost 30 years. The home was again vacated in the early 1970's and is currently for sale.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.