Mansfield Landmark Board Weighs a Pause on Tearing Down Its 1904 Buttrill-Nifong-Barnett House

What city staff call the most prominent house in downtown Mansfield has been sold, and its new owner wants to tear it down. On Tuesday, the city's Historic Landmark Commission will decide whether to hit the brakes.

The commission meets at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 20 in the Council Chambers at 1200 E. Broad St. It will take up "the possible demolition of an officially recognized historic resource," according to the meeting packet.

A 1904 house on East Broad

The house is the Buttrill-Nifong-Barnett House at 302 East Broad Street. A staff report in the packet says the City Council approved its sale to MCIII Development on Sept. 14. The new owner told city staff it plans to demolish the house and put up a new building on the lot.

Staff call it "the most prominent residence in historic downtown Mansfield" because of its size, design and site. It is also the city's "most architecturally developed historic dwelling." The house was built in the Classical Revival style around 1904, with a two-story colonnade running along its two main fronts. Local contractor Jay Grow designed and built it for David B. Buttrill, a farmer and general merchant who moved to Mansfield from Alabama in the 1890s with his wife Jane and their seven sons.

The commission named the house an Officially Recognized Historic Resource on Oct. 10, 2019. On Nov. 14, 2024, the commission told the city's historic preservation officer to bring any demolition permit for a recognized property before the board. That is why this one is on the agenda.

The Buchanan-Hayter-Witherspoon House, built in 1871, another of Mansfield's historic homes. It is not the house under review. Photo: Renelibrary / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

A pause, not a veto

The commission can't stop the demolition for good. It can only buy time. Two parts of the city code, Section 155.069 (G) and (I), allow a suspension. Under subsection (G), the commission may suspend a demolition application for up to 90 days. During that time it may ask the City Council to add up to 120 more days, after notice to the owner and a public hearing.

The code text caps the total at 240 days from the date of application. If the council takes no action within that window, the building official must issue the permit. The staff report puts it plainly: when the suspension ends, "the City must issue the demolition permit even if an alternative that preserves the historic resource has not been identified or implemented."

The code says the point of a suspension is to let the city, the owner and private parties "explore alternatives to demolition or removal," including other uses or other ownership. As a Certified Local Government, Mansfield must keep a demolition stay of at least 60 days on its books. It must also report to the Texas Historical Commission each year how many historic resources were demolished.

Also on the agenda

The commission will also hold a public hearing on new window signs for Mansfield Music Mentors in the First National Bank Building at 119 N. Main Street. The plan calls for the business name on the display windows, no larger than nine square feet, plus a door sign of no more than four square feet. Staff wrote that the proposal shows general compliance with the city's design guidelines.

A house that has stood for more than a century deserves at least a hard look before it comes down. People who want to speak can attend Tuesday's meeting. The agenda and packet are posted on the city's meeting portal. Planning Manager Art Wright, who prepared the report, can be reached at (817) 276-4226.

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