Cullen Davis Mansion

I was wondering if parts of this house are still standing? Aren't there apartments where the house used to be? I should know this being a FTW native, but don't. Any ideas?

The house is still there in its entirety, but after many different incarnations, is now a church (go figure). All or at least most of the land surrounding it has been filled, tho, with apartments, shopping, Calloway's nursery, a nursing home and maybe some houses. So, you really can't even see it from Hulen any more. So completely different than that white monster all by itself in the middle of the field.

The house was amazing when the Davis' lived there. I went swimming there when I was in elementary school - in the indoor pool. I went back years later when it was a restaurant.... It was weird to have seen it again after so many years. Much of it was unchanged. I wonder if the church still has the pool.

I think I read where they covered the pool or something like that. I don't think they filled it in, but don't think they use it as a pool. Now, were it a Baptist church, that would be a heck of a baptismal pool!

I drove by there and it looks like the church is for sale? The house is so commercialized now, it is hard to believe it was ever a house. I am a ghost hunter, so I would love an opportunity to look inside.

Hey angie013 - get permission to go inside and I'll ghost hunt with you in that house, especially 8/2 (30 years since the incident).

Where is it located? I've only been here since 1994.

-Jim

The house is on Hulen right before the bridge over the UP tracks. I don't think you can see it from Hulen any more; there are so many apartments, a Calloway's nursery, etc. right there. There area is called Stonegate something. Anyway, if you are, say going N on Hulen (is that correct) from the intersection of Hulen and Bellaire, past the Tom Thumb, past Bistro Louise, past Texadelphia and there is an intersection with the Calloways and what used to be Ronnie's on the corner; anyway turn up that street and go straight and you pretty much run into it. Those may not be good directions; I'm not really good with directions.

Those are great directions.
The street next to Calloways that you turn onto is actually Stonegate Blvd.

Ya just gotta wonder what Cullen is doing today, here 30 years later.

From crimelibrary.com (2005):

"By the mid-1980s, Cullen was flat broke. Kendavis Industries had taken a dive during the recession of the early 1980s and Cullen had blown some $40 million in bad real estate deals. In 1986, he filed for personal bankruptcy, listing assets of $600,000 and debts of more than $230 million.

The former Forbes 400 member took a job on his brother's payroll for $25,000 a year and Karen Davis, his alibi-turned-wife, returned to school teaching to make ends meet.

"The Lord has sustained me through this," he said. "I am not worried about the outcome. He can make it go, and He can make it come back."

Priscilla also hit on hard times and when she died in 2001 from breast cancer, she was living in a one-bedroom apartment far from the limelight. She was 59 years old. She had never remarried and as a persona non grata on the celebrity circuit, she lived a relatively quiet, if not despondent, life. Priscilla was mourned by many who came to know her during the trials, most of whom remembered her as a much grander lady than she had been portrayed at the time. Friends also said she never fully recovered her sense of self-worth that was dashed in the first trial. Her surviving daughter, Dee, told the press that even in the painful last stages of cancer, Priscilla refused to take pain medication because of the claims made by Haynes.

Now in his late 60s, T. Cullen Davis could still be tried for the death of Stan Farr and the assaults on Bev Bass and Bubba Gavrel. From time-to-time a newspaper columnist will recall the trial, still one of the most expensive in Texas history, and call on justice to be done.

To date no prosecutor has stepped forward to take on T. Cullen Davis, money or no money.

People on all sides of the issue have often speculated about whether the outcome would have been different had Cullen not been one of the richest men in Texas. Cullen himself admits that it might.

"I was able to pay for what I needed to be found not guilty," he said in 2000. "If I had not had the money to hire the people I hired to investigate what went on and everything that we used and needed, I might have been sitting in prison right now."

That shockingly careful choice of words is damn near a confession. "Prove my innocence" might have sounded a bit better.

Ain't it the truth!

Unless I've missed, I don't happen to see ANYTHING in the paper about it today.

Not completely. Juries do not judge "innocense". Only "guilt" or lack thereof. So, his statement is accurate; albeit a little questionable. Then again, he could come right out and say that he "did it" with respect to that particular charge and nothing could be done about it (in criminal court).

Interestingly, I ran into Cullen about a year ago at Kinkaid's while having lunch with my father. He is a surprisingly pleasant and fairly soft spoken individual - at least today.

From the Startle-Gram

Davis mansion back on the marketBy MATT FRAZIER
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH - The curse of the Cullen Davis mansion continues.

After trying for a year to turn something negative into a positive, the Power Church is putting up for sale the mansion made infamous in 1976 when two people were killed there.

The reason? Declining church attendance.

“I blame it half on the location and half on myself,” said Lance McCune, pastor of the Power Church. “It is in an older neighborhood, and I spent a lot of my time helping people deal with Hurricane Katrina and Rita.”

In 1972, wealthy oilman Cullen Davis spent $6 million to build the five-bedroom, 11-bath mansion with an indoor pool and a 2,000-square-foot master bedroom.

In its prime, the luxurious, contemporary home of courtyards, tunnels and balconies at 4100 Stonegate Drive was decorated with more than 100 oil paintings.

But in 1976 a man in black, wearing a black wig, killed two people there.

Three witnesses described Davis as the shooter. But in a trial in Amarillo he was acquitted of the killing of his 12-year-old stepdaughter, Andrea Wilborn.

Prosecutors later dismissed charges related to the killing of former Texas Christian University basketball player Stan Farr and the wounding of Davis’ estranged wife, Priscilla, and her friend Bubba Gavrel.

Davis’ oil-based business empire later crumbled. He moved out of the mansion in 1983 and declared bankruptcy in 1987.

Alamo Partners bought the property in 1992. Alamo sold it to Don Bowden, one of the founders of the Mercado Juarez restaurants and president of Mercado’s parent firm.

Bowden’s dream to turn the mansion into a restaurant failed three times, most recently with the Mercado Juarez Stonegate Hacienda. He said the site never drew the traffic needed to generate a consistent profit.

Power Church bought the property in 2003 and made several renovations, including filling in the indoor pool. But attendance has dropped from about 125 to about 100, McCune said. The church will remain in the mansion until it is sold.

“It’s a beautiful piece of property,” McCune said. “It just hasn’t been a good place for our church. It’s in a good location for a business.”

The Tarrant Appraisal District lists the value of the mansion and property at $1.64 million.

Hey! - We could all pool our nickles and dimes and buy the house and make it our BMOC Club House!! That would probably be the most appropriate use for it, don't ya think???

Forumansion

There ya go!! - John, just what kinda resources ya got!!

From today's Star Telegram (edited slightly, to keep from violating the Forum Guidelines):

COLLEYVILLE - About 25 firefighters from five cities battled a fire Tuesday at what is believed to be the home of famed oilman Cullen Davis.

The fire was reported about 9 a.m. in the ___________ block of Ballantrae Drive.

"The roof was billowing smoke through every vent possible, without fire breaking through," Colleyville Fire Chief Mike Johnston said.

No injuries were reported and the fire was extinguished quickly, the chief said.

Damage to the 3,600-square-foot home was estimated at $150,000, mostly from smoke and water, but a full assessment had not been made, Johnston said Tuesday evening..

The cause also had not been determined, he said.

Nbc5i.com reported Tuesday night that the home belongs to Davis, who according to news reports lives in Colleyville with his wife, Karen.

Johnston said he had been told it was Davis' home but could not confirm it.

A home on that block, which is just _________ of Texas 26 (Colleyville Boulevard) and Hall-Johnson Road, belongs to the Ken Davis Revocable Trust, Tarrant Appraisal District records show.

In 1976, Cullen Davis was accused of killing of two people, including his 12-year-old stepdaughter, at his mansion in west Fort Worth. He was acquitted, but the case shed light on an era of oil fortunes and excess.

Anyone know where I could find a floor plan of the Cullen Davis mansion? I was at an event there last week and many attendees were discussing the history of the place. It has piqued my interest. Also looking for photos of both the interior and exterior....

Thanks!

I, too, was interested in this topic a few years back. It seems to me that I may have checked out a book at the library that had the story and some photos.


mb

maybe this will help... There is a phot gallery section...

http://www.crimelibr...avis/index.html

I was there a couple of weeks ago as well. I don't know where one would find original floorplans, but it would appear to me that significant remodeling (at least very cosmetic stuff) had been done... makes sense considering the variety of establishments that have occupied the building in recent years! I was only in a few of the rooms on the first floor though, so who knows about the rest. I would love to take a tour.

I am a little surprised that the mansion is now being offered as an event location, but no mention whatsoever is made of the infamous history! I'm sure they don't want to focus on the negatives while trying to attract happy brides-to-be looking for a wedding location. Personally I'd be banking on that to attract weirdos like myself who are fascinated by the darker chapters of our local history.

I have always wondered about the marketing strategies of vintage hotels when it comes to spreading ghost stories. Every Halloween there is a story in the newspaper about some hotel or another being haunted. And this isn't something that the newspapers just come up with with little that the hotel can do about it. Usually multiple members of the hotel staff are interviewed and they are the ones describing the bizarre events that allegedly happen and providing the stories of what supposedly happened to unfortunate guests long ago. If the hotels viewed this as a negative, I assure you that the reporter would be asked to leave and employees would be instructed not to grant interviews.

My guess is that such stories result in curious visitors staying the night. But if one actually believed that such stories could possible have a grain of truth to them - well, who would want to stay in a place were things were going on which caused previous guests to flee their rooms in horror?

A very attractive historic hotel recently reopened in Atlanta after sitting empty for decades. In 1946, however, the hotel was the scene of what is still on record as being the worst hotel fire in US history. 119 people died - many of them high school students in town for an event for academic achievers. The hotel had no fire escapes and people perished in their rooms or jumped to their deaths from the windows. I am not into ghosts and such. But I am not sure that I could stay there knowing all that happened without being totally creeped out.

I have some photos of the Mansion as it stands today, however, I can also give you some rough draws of what the inside looked like at the time of the shooting and murders. After Priscilla got out of the hospital and returned to the Mansion during the divorce, I was one of the Fort Worth Police Officer's that guarded her. She paid for 24/7 protection and usually two officers were ther. One went with her when she went out and the other stayed to keep it place secured. I can tell you al lot about the inside and the basment areas. Also about the tunnel from the house to the servants quarters at the northwest end of the property. I was tere about a month ago and the guy showed me through. You all are right quite a bit has been remodeled and changed.......

If you ever want information about anything in Fort Worth that involved the Police Department, hinzdl is the place to go. Even though he wasn't around in 1873 when the Police Department was founded, he probably has that information on his computer.

He has also written a very interesting book, Panther's Rest. Try this website: Panther's Rest

Panther's Rest website on the Fort Worth Police is excellent. Thank You

And that goes for our Hilton. I have some auditors from Grant Thornton paying me a visit starting on Thursday. They asked me where they should stay. Gave them the Omni and Worthington but thought I would throw in the Hilton. Gave them the "Last place Kennedy spent the night" tag. Then I though a bit about whether that was a good point or bad point. It is not like Kennedy got shot there, but some surely would take the history as a negative. Not sure about the general public...

I wish I was more interested in photography than partying in those days, I could have gotten some great shots. I went to several events that Cullen attended at the Fort Worth Boat CLub and he seemed like a nice personal guy although quite. Periscilla was much more socially outgoing and had a lot of acquaintances of which one was a motorcycle racer named Rufner. I knew of Rufner and some of the others in her circle and pretty well figured there was going to be a train wreck at some point. The day of the shooting a FWPD officer and friend - Smitty (actually his name is Smith) called me to tell me about shooting and ask if I had heard anything about it. I told him that while I hadn't heard anything, I wasn't really surprised. They had a really nice wine cellar in the basement that you went through a door in the kitchen to get to - and at the time I could care less about wine.

Hinzdl, you are a treasure. Just got back from the link.
Why would the Hilton be spooky? The site of Kennedy's well regarded breakfast speech? The site of the suite where citizens placed fine art for Jackie? Sad, but not spooky.
Now, if bad vibes are real, the Davis place would have bad vibes. And that gangster Stevens house on the east side, though maybe churchitude has "exorcized" it a bit.

Thanks, jeffwd, just got back from your link. Like pmburk, I'll admit I like to delve into our "darker chapters."

 I worked at the Merrimac Restaurant, on the Trinity River, at the time of the murder's.  Pricilla and Stan Farr were in the restaurant the night before them murder's.  He was so  so tall and she was a petite blonde.  I could not believe it the next day when  I came in the next day and learned of the murder's.  A friend of mine, that also worked at the Merrimac, had been

friends with Pricilla's daughter Dee and told me a story about when she was over at the mansion, after school one day ,and Cullen came in and threw a ball from the pool table at the wall, just missing the kids.  I met him once after the first trial.  I was introduced to him by his atty. Bill Magnason.  My face was about 18 inches from his, it was a strange experience.  He was acting very meek , at the time.  In 1976 and after the murders Pricilla came into the Merrimac quite a bit.  It was the place to see and be seen, if you were anybody in FW, in the mid to late 70's,

I worked at the residence after the shooting as one of the FW police officers that made up Priscilla's bodyguard team. I can orate the looks of the inside but could not draw a floor plan to scale... If this might help I work on a narrative.......

In 1976 the house stood alone and you could see it from Vickery ( I think that was the street) as you drove by.  There was nothing even  close to it.

The street where you could see it in the distance was Hulen.

Thanks John.  It has been a while since I lived over there.

I went inside the home in 2008, when they first opened it as an event venue. They had it open during Spring Gallery Night! First & only year, though. It was great, but sadly you couldn't do much exploring.

 

They have a website - notice the "about" page doesn't mention much about the house's infamous history... guess they don't want to scare off any brides.

 

http://www.thestonegatemansion.com/

Interesting.....Here is some information that is not  public knowledge.

My beautiful mother began working for Ken Davis Industries IIRC 1973. At the Mid Contient location on 360. By 1975 she was dating a FtWorth attorney and about to married him. She was what they called then, Cullens "secretary". She says now it would be called his personal assistant. She did everything from pay his bills both personal and business to handling the logistics of all of his appointments and such. Also, at this time she was BFF's with Cullens GF Karen Master's. Ms. Masters had a son Chase or Chance I think that was hearing impaired and was a buddy of my little brothers because they went to the same school, Hill Acadamey or somesuch. I remember Cullen having a HUGE lifesize chess set maybe, or close to lifesize in one of the rooms. Was a huge place for a 10yr old kid.

 

I was in that house many many times, many times swam, ate suppers, watched TV, roamed the river and I remember it seeming like it was in the middle of nowhere. I was also fascinated by the switch station there along Vickery and Hulen St.

 

My poor mother was caught dead butt in the middle of this muder thing. What I know now is, she was persued relentlessly by detctives, PI's, investigators the point of a nervous breakdown. See, she gave a deposition that Cullen had called her late that evening or earlier that day and said he was going to the Riglea Theather (I think) to watch the midnight showing of The Bad News Bears....WHAT????? T. Cullen Davis at a midnight movie of the Bad News Bears....my mom has always told us in the family that she believes WITHOUT a doubt it was a setup for alibi.

As I remember she was deemed a hostile witness, never had to testify, Racehorse Haynes didn't want her IN the trial and I have never really read anything about her in any publications, she was never portrayed in any movies, nothing. But I know this was real because it was mom..ya know.

 

Cullen was always a kind fella to me. I ran into him a few times and re-introduced myself and that was neat....like I said in another thread, we moved into a corner house on End-O-Trail in Woodhaven and the big colonial style home aross the the street, which the back of the house would have faced #2 fairway, he eventually bought and he and Karen moved in there. My mom and her husband split up shortly after I think but by this time I was living with my dad in South West Arlington.

 

So, that is my story and I am sticking to it

I have always been intrigued by this house and infamous history.  Myself and other members of my family currently work of have worked for one of Cullen Davis' businesses. Stratoflex (now Parker Aerospace) was once a very succesfull business under KenDavis Industries back in the day. I remember back in the 70's when the Davis mansion stood alone in a huge field before nearby Hulen street became so populated.

The mansion is again for sale. 

 

https://www.loopnet....th-TX/20968251/

It was owned by a local event rental company as far as I knew.  Looks like they sold it or moved to a partnership of some sort not long ago according to TAD.

It's also interesting to note that the property is being advertised as a redevelopment site. 

My question to the forum, is the mansion worthy of preservation?

Austin, I say yes.  It was very unique architecturally when it was built in 1971, and it was designed by a well known Fort Worth Architect, Albert S. Komatsu & Associates.  Even though the history is tragic, it was the site of a local historical event.  The house is just shy of 50 years old, but since it is so close, it might be eligible for designation, at least on the local level.  However, you all know that I'm a preservationist at heart. 

Every time I go to Trader Joe's, I think of this photo and what it must have been like back in the day driving up Stonegate from Hulen.  Almost looks like an island on a lake the way the surrounding field is mowed and the contrast of the B&W photo.  I happened to see Mr. Davis at a fund raiser event a few years back, he seemed to be doing well.

 

Source: https://cbsnews3.cbs...sion-aerial.jpg

CREDIT: The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, Arlington, Texas

Oh, I forgot to add my vote yes for preservation candidate. Sort of wish they had kept more of the surrounding site as-is but bet it fetched a pretty penny.

All of the Stonegate development used to be part of their land.

Very cool photo, I have lived in Stonegate for just over a year, the land my house is on is in the picture. Interesting to see.

Austin, I say yes.  It was very unique architecturally when it was built in 1972, and it was designed by a well known Fort Worth Architect, Albert S. Komatsu & Associates.  Even though the history is tragic, it was the site of a local historical event.  The house is just shy of 50 years old, but since it is so close, it might be eligible for designation, at least on the local level.  However, you all know that I'm a preservationist at heart. 

 

I've noticed Komatsu Architecture's office sign just on the other side of the of the bridge at 3880 Hulen St.  Not sure how long they've been in this location, but it sure is close to the Davis Mansion.

I also took a quick photo looking east from behind Trader Joe's, toward the mansion's driveway.  Gates were closed, not much to see today.

I see today is Mr. Davis birthday.  87 years old.

I was in high school when the trials were going on. Seems like yesterday! I once ran into Cullen Davis at a store on Camp Bowie in the mid-1990's. I was surprised at how physically small he is.