April 2018 Yard of the Month winners are Steve and Kika Sloan of 1609 Hurley Ave. Steve and Kika are both educators; he teaches Spanish at TCU, and Kika, a native of Brazil, teaches art. They are celebrating their tenth year in the airy and open Craftsman Bungalow, after previously living in a 750-square-foot home in the museum district, on Harley Street.  (Steve jokes that they thoroughly confused both creditors and relatives by shifting only one letter in the move).  A few years after the move to Fairmount, they were joined by daughter Clara.

The first owner of 1609 Hurley, fortuitously enough, was also named Sloan.  W. B. Sloan and his wife Emma (née Schulenberger) were natives of North Carolina; they built the dwelling with a large garage accessed by the alley in 1914. W. B. had recently left the employment of Scots-born self-made railroad magnate William Cameron, and started his own business, the Sloan Lumber Company, at 201 West Railroad Avenue.  Sloan owned the home until 1929, when he moved his family to the River Oaks neighborhood, 818 Bois D’Arc Court, which means “wooden bow” in French and was, their biographer notes, “a most proper street for a Lumberman” (UNT Portal to Texas History).  The early 20th century Sloans were prominent members of the local Shriners, Elks, the Fort Worth Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Welfare Club and the Boy Scouts.  W. B. Sloan sold the house in 1929 to Ellen Hyland Crosby for $2000, and it was inherited by her son Jere Russell Crosby after her passing in 1951.  Like many Fairmount addresses, 1609 Hurley was designated as a multi-family dwelling during the Great Depression and the World War II, both of which brought an influx of young soldiers and laborers into the area.  Troy Killgore and his wife Nell (née Ellis), salespeople from Handley, TX, purchased the house 1961. They used the backyard apartments for their adult daughters Barbara Nell (born 1936) and Bettye Virginia (b. 1929).  The original free-standing bungalow was turned into a triplex in the 1980’s after the death of Mr. Killgore.  The dwelling was beautifully restored to a single-family dwelling by a Rachel and Chris Loftis, between 2003-6. Many of us were able to enjoy the fruits of their labor when they opened their doors to the home tour shortly before selling it in 2007, near the end of the renovation process. Rachel Loftis explained that she had handmade the rose and leaf stained-glass windows used on transoms along a central hallway that once separates boarder’s rooms, alternating colors for the rose pattern in each room. Chris Loftis made wine storage shelving out of salvaged wood to give purpose to a small transitional room between the dining room and kitchen.  They retained a beautiful oak kitchen countertop and the 1920’s glass-fronted upper cabinets to preserve the home’s character.

Among the house’s distinctive exterior features are the porch’s “Southern Cross” and lattice style railing, echoed in the mullion pattern of attic window above.  While 1609 Hurley was painted white for most of the 20th century, the color evoked what Brazilians call a dreaded “wooden whale” appearance, so the Sloans selected instead a verdant green.  Steve recently spent 2 years meticulous repairing and repainting every board added to the exterior by W. B. Sloan 100 years ago.  He set off the emerald boards with dove-white trim and chocolate brown braces and columns, highlighting a diamond pattern in the shingled dormer by tracing it out in alternating paint colors.  Outdoor entertaining is important to the sociable Sloans.  An expansive front porch with shades lowered for the Western setting sun, a back-yard patio, hammocks, fire pits and even a privacy-screened outdoor shower – a “must for every Brazilian” come together to form a great playscape for their young daughter and her friends in the back yard.  In the front yard, they have cultivated several seating areas both in the lawn and on the porch, with tables, rocking chairs, and driftwood pieces that can be art installations or children’s benches.

Kika had previously experimented with various tropical plants she had grown in Brazil, but found not all of her favorites would thrive in Fort Worth. Pomegranates were a disappointment in the backyard of the Harley Street home: while they flower with pretty orange trumpets in North Texas, the subsequent fruits are neither large nor flavorful, though they do make good food for wild birds. (It is traditional on New Year’s Eve in Brazil to eat pomegranate seeds for a luck).  Looking for plants that would survive without watering while the polyglot family travels to Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Spain, or Portugal, Kika took inspiration from the flora at Big Bend National Park, where they often hike and camp.  The arid environment supports variety of beautiful wildflowers, including spiny poppies, spider milk weed, field mustard, Indian hemp, and horned spurge. Kika now frequents the Fort Worth Botanic Garden plant sales each April and October to find drought-tolerant hardy plants.  After the local forestry program helping to “retree Fairmount” provided two Texas Redbuds for the parkway, Kika executed a mostly symmetrical plan for building curved, brick-edged beds on either side of the walkway leading to the house.  Behind the redbuds, she planted variegated ligustrum, Texas sage, deer grass, red and pink salvia, red Turk’s cap, rosemary bushes, and a desert willow.  In the beds closest to the house, each side is anchored by hot pink Crape Myrtle trees, with roses, agave and yucca filling in the remainder.

Our thanks, and a $25 gift card to 44 Bootlegger, go to Steve and Kika Sloan. The Yard of the Month board is Leah Suasnovar and Bonnie Blackwell.