1312 Mistletoe Drive
Fort Worth, Texas
The home of Burford King Isaacs and Lyda Mae Rester Isaacs
For my grandparents, Burford and Lyda Isaacs, the house at 1312 Mistletoe Drive in what is now the Mistletoe Heights Historic Neighborhood, was the basic house and location they always wanted. My grandfather was doing well as an attorney. My grandmother was a homemaker and mother. After they purchased the house, probably in about 1932 or 1933, they hired the services of Joseph Pelich, a prominent Fort Worth architect, to draw the blue prints for turning the house into the house that my grandmother envisioned as their dream home. The blue prints are dated July 28, 1933. They had started their family in one of the first houses constructed after the closing of Camp Bowie after the end of WW1. That house, 1212 Dorothy Lane, would remain in the family and play a role in their family as my mother was born in that house, and in 1944, it became the "$1.00 with love" home of my parents and where I would spend the first 2 years of my life. It was a good house and is still in good condition. It was not, however, the house that my grandmother, Lyda dreamed of. When they found the house they wanted, they made a photo of it with the For Sale sign still in front of the house. According to the Tarrant Appraisal District, the house was constructed in 1918. The architect is not presently known.
1932 or 1933 photo
My mother told me that they did not move in until the house was completely remodeled. It was an extensive make-over as can be seen by the photos.
1934 photo
I originally found only this scrap thin piece of paper for making changes to the plan. I really did not believe I would ever see blueprints of this house.
While going through records, I found a photo with the mention of a contest written on the back. Then, after about two months had passed, we found the original blue prints drawn by Joseph Pelich for the project.
Inside the rolled up blue prints, I found the original letter regarding this recognition, along with the certificate. After they moved into the house, my grandfather entered the 1933 national Home and Garden Magazine contest by sending in information regarding the remodeling and photographs. He received a letter from the editors of the magazine saying they had earned a prize, a check for an as yet unknown amount of money, and a certificate in the contest which had more than 18,000 entries. That was quite an accomplishment considering the thousands of entries a national magazine receives when sponsoring a national contest.
My mother told me she was about 10 or 11 years old when they moved into this house. She told me a number of stories from her time in the Mistletoe house when I was growing up but she never wrote them down. She lived in this house until she married my father. I can't remember if she said she lived down the street from her best friend growing up or next door to her. Her best friend from the time she moved over to the Mistletoe house was Virginia (Ginger to us) Ponton. They remained close friends for their entire lives. Virginia was my mother's maid of honor when she and my father, Wiley G Clarkson Jr. were married in Souix City, Iowa on May 4, 1944. Virginia married Paul Gregory and the Clarkson and Gregory kids would remain friends until present times. Even though we live many miles apart, we stay in contact through Facebook. We went to school together, partied together, hunted and fished together, traveled together, and, at times, we have grieved together. On Dec. 19, 1946, my grandfather passed away after suffering from cancer. It was more than my grandmother could get over. They had a extremely strong love for each other, and after my grandfather's funeral, as the grief drug her down, Lyda put her personal affairs in order as best she could. Without her beloved Burford, she lost the will to live. She joined my grandfather in death just a three weeks later on Jan 7, 1947. My mother and uncle sold the house at 1312 Mistletoe Drive on Feb 26, 1947 to the Broadway Baptist Church to be used as a parsonage. Except for my mother driving me and my brother by the house once in a while when we were growing up and telling an occasional story of her youth, my family's connection with 1312 ended on that day in February of 1947. I drove by the house a year ago and took a photo of it for a modern comparison as to how it looks now compared to 1933. It is still really nice, not only has it retained the beauty that my grandmother Lyda put into the house, it has continued to grow in its beauty and at 95 years old, is still a great house. If only the walls in that house could tell all the stories of the families who have called 1312 Mistletoe Drive their home!
2013 photo using high dynamic range photographic techniques
The following are misc photos that I ran across with no dates.
