A house with historic significance caught fire Tuesday night in Fort Worth causing extensive damage to a home neighbors fondly call "The Mansion House."
"It was there for a long time and known as The White House or The Mansion House," said Nayeli Díaz DeLeon who grew up in the neighborhood and lives nearby. "It made a big impact on this neighborhood, and it has been very special to us. And we're not going to see it the same anymore. Sadly."
Firefighters rolled up to the house at 2117 Northwest 24th St. in the Rosen Heights neighborhood and saw an intense fire burning through it. They started to fight flames from the outside and tried to go inside but discovered the staircase was missing. They backed out and continued pouring water on it from outside.
"Those flames were almost up to eight feet, and it was really hard to put out. They had to get more firefighters on the line," DeLeon said. "They were trying the best they could with a lot of water hoses and a lot of water trying to put a lot of pressure. And, it took up to an hour to turn off those flames."
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The three-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot house with four white columns across the front was built more than a hundred years ago and had a City of Fort Worth Landmark plaque. Plywood covered the windows. DeLeon says a family lived there until about a year ago. It's now owned by a trust, according to the Tarrant Appraisal District.
Information from the city shows the house was designated as a Historic and Cultural Landmark in the mid-90s.
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The property is known as the Brown/Tadloch House and was constructed in 1909 in the Colonial Revival style. It was built for Benjamin B. Brown who worked for Swift and Company. Brown sold the house in 1919 to James A. Tadlock, a successful livestock dealer and broker for $3,000. Tadlock was a partner in the Livestock Commission Company, Tuttle, and Tadlock, which had its offices in the Live Stock Exchange building. The Tadlock family owned the house until 1978.
It appears the previous owner died in early 2023. DeLeon told NBC5 the family that lived there moved out about a year ago.
"It's a hard impact on us 'cuz like I said, it was The White House to us since our childhood," she said. "When we were kids riding the bikes around here, we would just see that white house and say, 'Hey, look at The White House! The White House! The big mansion. And, now to see it. It's sad."
The fire department contines to investigate the cause of the fire.
