Willow-Spence Streets Historic District - Description and Significance

Description and Significance

According to the National Register, "the Willow-Spence Streets Historic District represents an unusually intact neighborhood of residences and compatible commercial and public buildings. Located largely on blocks and lots which were not finally platted and subdivided until after 1900, the residences in the District are architecturally intact for the most part; a number of them demonstrate fine craftsmanship and are among the best examples of vernacular building types which were once common in Austin after 1900, but which are rarely found in such large concentrations today. In a city where specific functions and services have been segregated from one another, the Willow-Spence Streets Historic District is a rare example of a neighborhood in which homes, businesses, and churches are fully integrated and architecturally compatible."

Although the historic district includes a few stores and churches, most of the buildings are single-family residential. The house at 81 Waller St. was constructed in the 1880s, but most were built between 1900 and the early 1930s. Most are simple, wood-frame cottages of late Victorian or Craftsman/Bungalow architecture. There is also a church, El Buen Pastor on Waller Street, that is Mission Revival in style.