I started out by trying to figure out just what had been done to our house and when. (I particularly wanted to know when the addition to the rear of the house was made, and when the garage/apartment at the rear of the lot was torn down.) That meant I needed to look at property tax valuations, trying to find jumps in value that would indicate construction or demolition of structures on the property. However, I discovered that in order to look at the tax rolls, I needed to find out who had owned the property and when, because all Travis County tax rolls before the 1980s were organized by the name of the property owner.
This discovery sent me to the county clerk’s office, where I stared at an awful lot of microfilm as I ran back the title on the property so I could establish ownership. After that was done, I spent more time in the tax assessor’s office staring at yet more microfilm and microfiche as I looked at property valuation. And then I went to the Austin History Center to find out who lived here and when. All of that’s now done, and I have a history of our property’s ownership, from the original developer to us. As I can get it, I’ll add more information about residency.
| March 29, 1901 | The Missouri-Kansas & Texas Land Co. (Col. Monroe M. Shipe, president) sells Block 13 of the Hyde Park Addition to John S. Keen of Wilson County for $1,200.00.1 |
| September 11, 1905 | John Keen et ux. Ann Keen, now living in Trenton (Fannin County), sell Block 13 to George A. Parkinson of Llano County for $850.00.1 There is a dwelling somewhere on the block at this time; the deed stipulates that the buyer “shall carry a fire insurance policy on the dwelling house purchased in some good and reliable Fire Insurance Co.” until the note is paid off. |
| March 27, 1912 | George Parkinson, now living in Marble Falls, sells part of Block 13 (Lots 1 through 4 and 9 through 12) to Mrs. D. I. Parkinson of Austin for $1,200.00.1 |
| August 31, 1920 | Mrs. Parkinson sells Lots 11 and 12 of Block 13 to J. W. Ray, in cancellation of a note for $300.00.1 (Did she default on the loan and have to redeem it with the property, perhaps?) |
| September 25, 1935 | J. W. Ray sells a 12.95 foot by 130 foot strip from the north edge of Lot 12 to the City of Austin to expand 47th Street, for $60.00 cash and $6.19 in refunded taxes.1 |
| October 11, 1935 | J. W. Ray et ux. Minnie Ray sell the remainder of Lots 11 and 12 to George R. et ux. Mary Gillespie for $425.00.1 George is a machinist with the Texas Highway Department.3 |
| 1937 | The current house at 4610 Avenue H is built by the Gillespies on Lot 12; tax valuation jumps from $150 in 1937 to $1,200 in 1938. The house has one bedroom and one bath.2 |
| 1942 | The Gillespies live at 4610 with their son, George R., Jr. (a student).3 |
| 1943-44 | The Gillespies move to Houston. Mrs. Robert E. (Minnie) Burns lives at 4610 in 1944.3 (Is Mr. Burns away at war?) |
| 1947–1949 | Robert E. and Minnie Burns live at 4610 with his brother(?), Robert L. Robert E. is employed by Coffey and Son, and Robert L. is a bookkeeper for Continental Trailways.3 |
| April 6, 1948 | The Gillespies renounce their homestead exemption on 4610.1 |
| August 12, 1949 | The Gillespies sell Lot 11 (now 4608 Avenue H) and the south five feet of Lot 12 to Felix Williams.1 |
| November 14, 1950 | The Gillespies sell the remaining portion of Lot 12 (61.49 feet of the south 75 feet of the lot) to Joe F. et ux. Aida Lenzo for $6,500.00.1 Joe Lenzo is a salesman for Sears, Roebuck & Co.3 |
| 1953 | Joe and Aida Lenzo separate and divorce;4 Aida appears on the tax rolls of 1955 and after living on Arcadia Avenue in the Crestview neighborhood, and works as a typist at C. R. Law Tax Records.2,3 Her son Robert lives with her. Joe continues to live on Avenue H with his wife Edith (probably Mattie E., aka “Pat”).3 |
| 1954 | Rev. Clarence Bassett et ux. Katherine live at 4610.3 Joe and Pat Lenzo do not appear in the city directory for this year. |
| 1955 | Dallas M. Cooper et ux. Lucile live at 4610. He is a salesman for B&F Systems.3 However, Joe and Pat Lenzo also supposedly live at 4610 during this year.3 (Do the Coopers live in the garage apartment?) |
| 1955 | Joe quits Sears and goes into the restaurant business. Lenzo’s Italian Kitchen opens at 2610 Guadalupe (now the location of the Texas Showdown bar).3 |
| 1956 | The rear two bedrooms and a second bath are added to the house; the original rear stoop is converted to a third bath. Cosmo Lenzo, Joe’s brother, is the construction permit holder.6 |
| 1957 | Lenzo’s Italian Kitchen moves to 4412 N. Lamar Blvd.3 (now a parking lot between Starbucks and Chili’s Restaurant). |
| 1958 | Lenzo’s Italian Kitchen #2 opens at 3400 S. Congress Avenue. Pat is listed as manager of this location in the city directory for that year; Joe manages the first location on North Lamar.3 |
| March 9, 1959 | Aida Lenzo sells her interest in 4610 to Joe Lenzo.1 Presumably this is to clear title on the house as part of the divorce settlement; there is no explanation of why it took six years to do so. |
| September 15, 1960 | Joe et ux. Mattie E. (Pat) Lenzo grant a five-foot utility easement to the City of Austin, for unspecified consideration.1 |
| 1965 | Lenzo’s Italian Kitchen has moved to 6000 North Interregional Highway (I-35).3 |
| 1973 | Lenzo’s Italian Kitchen, at 7535 East Highway 290 since the previous year, closes. Joe’s brother Cosmo opens Lenzo’s To Go on Richcreek Road the next year.3 |
| November 11, 1973 | Pat Lenzo dies. Her will names Joe Lenzo as sole heir and executor. The application for probate of her will states the house’s value is $16,000.00.1 |
| August 14, 1974 | Joe Lenzo Sr. dies.5 His estate devolves to his son and daughter-in-law, Joe F. and Laverne.1 |
| 1975 | David Kleeman lives at 4610.3 The city directory reports him as the property owner; this is not true. |
| 1976-77 | Gary Brown lives at 4610.3 |
| October 21, 1978 | Joe Lenzo Jr. dies in Harris County at the age of 45.5 Laverne Lenzo is his executor.1 |
| 1979-80 | David Walthall lives at 4610.3 |
| May 29, 1981 | Laverne Lenzo sells 4610 to Stephen John Vazquez et ux. Ginger Greenberg Vazquez for $40,000.00.1 |
| 1982 | Stephen and Ginger Vazquez divorce.4 |
| November 2, 1982 | Stephen Vazquez and Ginger Greenberg each sell their half interests in 4610 to Behrouz Karimzad by deed of assumption.1 (Karimzad’s name still appears on the front door knocker.) Karimzad lives there in 1984 and 1985.3 |
| 1983 | 4610 reported vacant this year.3 |
| April 10, 1985 | Behrouz Karimzad sells 4610 to Samy Kovo of San Antonio for $113,900.00.1 |
| 1986–1992 | Presumably the garage apartment behind the house is demolished during this period. Tax valuations plummet from $95,335.00 in 1986 to $61,352.00 in 1991.2 |
| 1987 | 4610 reported vacant for this year.3 |
| 1988-89 | Behrouz Karimzad lives at 46103; this is not verified. |
| 1990 | Michael Sims lives at 4610.3 |
| 1992 | Ed Wood lives at 4610.3 |
| 1996 | John Gibler, Daniel Nelson, M. Powe, and Camilo Ruggero live at 4610.3 |
| October 31, 1997 | Samy Kovo sells to Sam and Lise Waring for $144,500.00.1 |
1 Travis County deed records.
2 Travis County tax rolls for the referenced year.
3 R. L. Polk & Co. City Directory for the referenced year.
4 Travis County District Court records.
5 State of Texas death records.
6 City of Austin construction permit records.
