Preservation Austin Receives Preservation Texas Honor Award for the McFarland-McBee House
Board Secretary Kelly Little (left), Executive Director Lindsey Derrington (center), and Board President Miriam Conner (right) accepting the award in San Antonio, October 30, 2025 (Photo: Preservation Austin)
AUSTIN, TX (October 31, 2025) – Preservation Austin is thrilled to receive an Honor Award from Preservation Texas recognizing the rehabilitation of the McFarland-McBee House, our non-profit’s headquarters. Preservation Texas’s Honor Awards is a biennial program that recognizes exceptional individuals and projects that advance historic preservation across the state. Preservation Austin’s staff and board joined fellow awardees in San Antonio last night, October 30, to accept this honor.
“Preserving this special historic place was an unprecedented undertaking for our small nonprofit, and Preservation Austin is honored to receive this statewide recognition,” said Lindsey Derrington, Preservation Austin’s Executive Director. “Every historic building brings its own set of challenges, and the McFarland-McBee House is particularly unusual in its design and construction. Its rehabilitation involved hundreds of decisions and extensive problem-solving. Our project team cared deeply for Preservation Austin and for the building, which made all the difference.”
The project team for this rehabilitation project included architects Hutson Gallagher, LLC, Tsen Engineering, and ATC Contractors, with landscaping by David Wilson Garden Design and interior design by Heather Herndon, JS Dwellings.
About the McFarland-McBee House
The McFarland-McBee House, built in 1947, is a landmark of Austin culture and preservation advocacy. Located at 3805 Red River in the Hancock neighborhood, the property was built by J. P. and Byrdie McFarland, who infused their dream home with their love for the Streamline Moderne houses, hotels, and nightclubs of South Florida. The McFarlands lived here with their young sons, James and John, until 1954.
By 1962, the house was a rental property, providing a home to students, servicemen, and musicians. Longtime resident Tom Pittman of the Lounge Lizards lived here in the 1990s with then-wife Madgie Hollingshead, and the house became a fixture in the bluegrass music scene. Legends like Joni Mitchell, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Marcia Ball were among the attendees at their well-known parties, including an annual gathering at the end of each SXSW.
In 2014, Preservation Austin led a grassroots movement to save this house from demolition. Our nonprofit purchased the house in 2019, listed it in the National Register of Historic Places in 2020, and embarked on its extensive rehabilitation to serve as a headquarters for Preservation Austin’s offices, advocacy, and programming. With support from across the community, we addressed structural needs while keeping interior finishings intact. During our capital campaign, our nonprofit raised over $2.8 million to complete this rehabilitation, establish an endowment fund to support long-term stewardship of the building, expand our grants program, and establish an innovation fund for new programming and advocacy. Thanks to the generosity of the McBee Family Foundation, in 2024, Preservation Austin renamed the house in honor of Sue and Frank McBee, who were themselves leaders in Austin’s cultural life and preservation movement.
McFarland-McBee House during rehabilitation, 2023 (Photo: Preservation Austin)
Rehabilitated McFarland-McBee House, 2024 (Photo: TWest Photography)