Description of Physical Appearance

The La Salle Apartments, 1420-26 College Avenue, are located in the Fairmount-Southside Historic District in Fort Worth, Texas.  The two 2 1/2-story Tudor Revival apartments feature such hallmarks of the style as steeply pitched gabled roofs and stucco and half-timbering ornamentation.  They sit at the northwest corner of College Avenue and Myrtle Street.  Across the street to the east is the campus of De Zavala Elementary School.  This 2-story Classical Revival building was built in 1914 with additions constructed in 1957-58 and 2001-02.  The block immediately south of the apartments has several vacant lots where homes have been demolished.  North of the apartments is the parking lot and church complex for College Avenue Baptist Church, constructed in 1970.   The surrounding residential architecture is composed of 1- and 2-story early 20th-century bungalows, Folk Victorian, National Folk, and Classical Revival cottages.

The La Salle Apartments are sited on two lots, each measuring 50' wide by 100' deep.  The buildings face east although the entrances are located on side elevations flanking a narrow courtyard with a central concrete sidewalk.  Each building is rectangular in plan and measures approximately 36' wide by 70' deep. The roofs are cross gable and sheathed with asphalt shingles.  The buildings sit on raised concrete foundations and are constructed of yellow striated brick with decorative stucco and half-timbering on portions of the second story facade and on attic level dormers and gables.  The stucco is painted white and the half-timbering and other wood trim is painted brown.  Window sills and lintels in the stuccoed portions of the buildings are of wood.  Cast sills and brick soldier course lintels are used elsewhere on the buildings.

The Sanborn Map of Fort Worth from 1951 indicates that the north building originally had the address of 1420-22 College Avenue and the south building had the address of 1424-26 College Avenue.  City Directories from the early 1930s indicate this same division.  The buildings are now designated as 1420 [north building] and 1426 [south building].  Below is the exterior description of 1420 College Avenue.  The description for 1426 College Avenue would be reversed.

Exterior Description

The facade or east elevation of 1420 College Avenue is divided into two bays.  The north bay projects slightly from the rest of the facade with a subtle flair along the south edge of the first floor portion.  This bay features an attic level gable with an extended flared eave on the south end.  At the attic level are paired diamond-light wood casement windows.  The second story has three 1/1 hung wood windows.  The wall surface around the attic and second story windows is covered with stucco and half timbering.  Beneath the lower portion of the stuccoed area are small curved wood brackets.  The first floor of this bay has three 1/1 hung windows parallel to the second story windows.  The southern half of the facade features a gabled attic dormer with paired diamond-light wood casement windows.  The wall surface of the dormer is covered with stucco and half-timbering.  Immediately below the dormer are paired 1/1 hung wood windows.  The same fenestration pattern is on the first floor of this bay.

The south elevation is symmetrical and provides access to the eight apartments through two entrances.  It is composed of two steeply pitched gabled bays near the west and east ends.  The gable ends are decorated with stucco and half-timbering with a louvered wood attic vent.  At the center of the elevation is a shed roofed attic dormer with exposed rafter tails.  The dormer has a centered diamond-patterned window flanked by louvered wood vents.  The two entrances are sheltered with steeply pitched gabled porch roofs supported by curved wood brackets.  The gable ends are covered with stucco.  Above each gable is a single round window with a floret tracery (although the tracery is gone from the east window).  Below the gables, the entrances are surmounted by a decorative brick arch with a cast keystone.  The door is a glazed wood panel door with an elongated 3/3 glazing pattern.

The north elevation features two steeply pitched gables at the attic level at the ends of the building.  Each gable end is covered with stucco and half-timbering and has paired louvered wood vents in the center.  The fenestration pattern for both floors is the same and is as follows: w- w-w-ww-ww-w-w-w.  These windows are all wood hung 1/1.  The rear or west elevation features the same fenestration pattern on each floor consisting of paired windows toward the north end, a single window in the middle, and triplet windows near the south end.

The south building, 1426 College is a mirror image of 1420.  Behind both buildings is a flat roofed metal carport supported by round metal poles.  The rear of the property has been paved for parking.  A 1951 Sanborn Map reveals that there was a 1-story garage behind 1420 College and a 1-story, 8-car parking structure behind 1426 College.  These were removed at an unknown date.

Interior Description

Each building is divided into eight, one-bedroom apartments with four on each floor.  The configuration of each apartment is basically the same, although floor patterns can be reversed depending on what side of the interior hallway the unit is on.  Entering through the exterior courtyard door, one encounters a central hallway that leads to the apartment entrances and the stairway to the second floor.  The hallways are covered with earth-toned ceramic tiles of varying sizes laid in a coursed pattern.  A door under the stairway leads to a mechanical closet.  The balustrade along the stairs is painted wood with turned balusters.  The original doors to the apartments were 2-paneled wood doors but some have been replaced with metal security doors.  These doors open to a living room.  From the living room, one goes through an arched opening to reach the small dinette.  To the side of the dinette is the kitchen.  Some kitchens retain their original paneled wood cabinets, sinks, and ceramic tile counter tops.  Others have had these features replaced.  Through the dinette, one reaches the bedroom.  Some apartments retain the original double French door to the bedrooms.  Others have had these doors replaced with wood slab doors.  However, some apartments only had a single 2-panel wood door between the dinette and the bedroom.  The bedrooms each have one closet and a bathroom.  The bathrooms originally had a white ceramic tile laid in a basket weave pattern and a tile wainscoting.  However, some bathroom floors have been covered with linoleum.  Some apartments retain the original sink, toilet, tub, and built-in wood medicine cabinet.  In other bathrooms these fixtures have been replaced and wood cabinets installed.

The end apartments have a picture molding around the living rooms, dining rooms, and bed rooms.  With the exception of the bathrooms and kitchens, the floors of the apartments are covered with hardwoods.  However, some apartments have been carpeted with the dinettes and kitchens covered with nonoriginal linoleum.  Most light fixtures are not original.  Wall heaters are located in the bathrooms and living rooms.