Westbrook Estate

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the Westbrook Estate — and I'm taking you every inch of the way. Now, some houses just sit on their lots. And then some houses perch on a bluff like they own the whole horizon — and friend, this is one of those houses.

The Roy A. and Gladys Westbrook House rises two and a half stories above a one-and-a-half-acre blufftop site in Fort Worth's Park Hill neighborhood, looking out over the Fort Worth Zoo and Forest Park like a manor lord surveying his domain. And it has looked that way since 1928. The neighborhood itself was no accident.

Park Hill was laid out by the noted Kansas City, Missouri landscape architecture firm of Hare and Hare — people who understood that the land beneath a great house ought to be worth the looking-at too. But the house, the house belongs to one man's vision: Joseph L. Pelich, a prominent Fort Worth architect whose residential designs ran deep in period revival styles.

You can find his fingerprints all through Fort Worth's oldest neighborhoods. He also designed the original Casa Manana outdoor theater right there in Fort Worth, so the man knew something about drama — and he did not forget that lesson when he drew up this place. He chose Tudor Revival, and he meant it.

The roof alone would stop you cold: steeply pitched, cross-gabled, covered in slate, with multiple gables pulling your eye every which direction. The side gables are decorated with hand-hewn and pegged half-timbering — not factory-cut, hand-hewn, which means somebody took a broadaxe to timber so that a stranger a hundred years later would feel the weight of that craftsmanship just standing in the yard. There are brick battlements.

There is an arcaded recessed portico. There are tall brick chimneys topped with chimney pots reaching up into the Fort Worth sky, and the windows — multiple-light double-hung and diamond-pattern casement windows — catch the light the way only old glass does, like it's remembering something. Step inside and the story keeps going.

Stained and leaded glass windows. Ornate wrought iron work. Three fireplaces in marble and plaster.

A tile fountain. Plaster coffered ceilings pressing down over all of it with the quiet authority of a room that knows it will outlast everyone in it. And the grounds — a three-car garage tucked at the basement level, low brick walls, a stone grotto, a concrete terrace, and a swimming pool with a diving tower.

A diving tower. In 1928. Now, a house like this doesn't happen without a story behind the money, and Roy A.

Westbrook had one worth telling. He made his fortune in the Hendrick Oilfield in central Winkler County — the kind of oil luck that turned West Texas dust into Fort Worth elegance. He was a founding member of the Fort Worth Petroleum Club, and he also served as president and director of the Fort Worth Cats Baseball Club, which tells you something about a man: he struck it rich in the ground, then spent his time building institutions — a club for the men in his industry, a team for the fans in his city.

The Texas Historical Commission recorded this estate as a landmark in 2009. And there it still stands on that blufftop in Park Hill — slate roof, chimney pots, hand-hewn timber and all — looking out over Forest Park the same way it did nearly a century ago, like it has absolutely no intention of going anywhere.

What the marker says

The Roy A. and Gladys Westbrook House is a 2 1/2 story Tudor Revival style home constructed in 1928. The house sits on a 1.5 acre blufftop site in the Park Hill neighborhood that overlooks the Fort Worth Zoo and Forest Park. The Park Hill neighborhood was designed by the noted Kansas City, Missouri, landscape architecture firm of Hare and Hare. The home was designed by prominent Fort Worth architect Joseph L. Pelich, whose residential designs were mostly based on period revival styles. His work can be found throughout Fort Worth's oldest neighborhoods. Pelich also designed the original Casa Manana outdoor theater in Fort Worth. The home has multiple gables and a steeply pitched, slate covered cross-gabled roof. Side gables are decorated with hand-hewn and pegged half-timbering. Other notable features include an arcaded recessed portico, brick battlements, tall brick chimneys with chimney pots, and multiple-light double-hung and diamond-pattern casement windows. The home's interior includes stained and leaded glass windows, ornate wrought iron work, three marble and plaster fireplaces, a tile fountain and plaster coffered ceilings. The grounds and associated landscape features include a three-car garage at the basement level, low brick walls, a stone grotto, a concrete terrace and a swimming pool with a diving tower. Roy A. Westbrook made his fortune in the Hendrick Oilfield in central Winkler County. Westbrook was a founding member of the Fort Worth Petroleum Club and also served as president and director of the Fort Worth Cats Baseball Club. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2009