Tax Credit Program Highlight: Neill-Cochran House

Austin, Travis County

1855

Designation	Individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places
Historic Use	Residence
Current Use	Museum and events center
Total Rehabilitation Cost	$400,000.00
Qualified Rehabilitation Expenses	$393,131.38
Date Certified	March 31, 2016
	Certified for state tax credits only.

History

This 19th century Greek Revival structure was commissioned in 1855 by Washington Hill and constructed by Austin master builder Abner Cook. Hill and his wife, like many other prominent Austinites who had benefitted from the city’s expanding economy, desired a fine residence. Andrew and Jennie Neill bought the house in 1876 and adorned its interior with impressive furnishings and decorations in an effort to carve a place for themselves in the social and political scene of the time. The house was later leased to the Cochran family, who lived there 70 years before selling it to the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America (NSCDA) in the State of Texas in 1958. The NSCDA is responsible for initiating work to preserve the museum structure as well as cataloging and curating its collection of fine furniture and art.

Rehabilitation Project

This state-only tax credit project addressed a series of modernization and upkeep issues at the historic museum. At the main house, rewiring was undertaken to remove remaining visible knob-and-tube wiring. Historic wood windows were painstakingly repaired, and clear UV/IR inhibiting window films were installed to protect the museum collections. On the exterior, the roof and gutter systems were repaired; historic wood shutters, porch elements and columns were restored; cast-iron shutter dogs were custom made to match remaining historic examples; and the stone front steps were reset on a new foundation. Work outside the main house included significant regrading to limit water infiltration, and foundation and waterproofing repairs to the stone outbuildings.