By JAY MOORE

Perhaps soon, on some late summer evening when the temp dips to a cool 95, you can ease the ol’ family cruiser down the driveway, crank up the a/c and take a leisurely drive to northeast Abilene where you can spot some Hometown History in Plain Sight. 

I’ve long held a minor fascination with a Spanish Colonial style home located two blocks south of ACU. Standing at the corner of Washington Boulevard and E.N. 14th St. is a rambling, west-facing home bearing the address of 1401 Washington but which also has a name; the home is “El Mirador.”  It is unlike any of the neighboring homes, in fact, it is fairly unique among all Abilene homes. Maybe you’ve noticed it as well? The home was built in 1929-30 at a cost of around $30,000 or $530,000 in 2023 dollars. Abilene architect and contractor R.J. Lane drew the plans and oversaw the construction.

The home’s architecture is intended to mimic that of 17th-century Spain—stucco walls, red clay roof tiles, arched windows, a courtyard, balconies and rooms with wooden-beamed ceilings. There’s even an outside staircase and a tower. Heck, it’s a slice of Cadiz or Seville right here atop ACU Hill. If you were to pass through the arched front door, you would enter the living room which has a large fireplace topped with a white-stone mantel inlaid with miniature Spanish shields and castles and trimmed in onyx. (At least that was the description of it in 1930 and I sure hope it hasn’t changed.) There are nine rooms, two balconies and separate living quarters over “el cochera,” (Spanish garage) 

El Mirador translates as “the lookout” or “the viewpoint.” In this case the view is from the lofty second-floor balcony back towards downtown. The lady who built the home—and who named it—was a keen devotee of all things Spanish. 

The photo on the left shows El Mirador soon after completion in 1930. (Photo courtesy of Tom Perini). In the photo on the right, Lola North is on the “look-out” balcony of her home in 1930. (Photo courtesy of John North)

So, who was this lady and what was her story? Glad you asked. The home was built by Lola Cupples North. Lola was an attractive 39-year-old widow raising two teenage sons. Her husband Herschel died in 1927 at age 42, leaving behind a rather healthy bank account. Immediately following his death, Lola not only earned a bachelor’s degree from ACC in 1928 and a master’s from Simmons University (now HSU) in 1929 but did so while a full-time mom and a very recent widow. While at Simmons, she also taught English at ACC. The hilltop school then invited her to join the faculty fulltime and teach Spanish. And she began making plans to build a nearby home reflecting her passion for Spanish culture.  

Just as the home got underway, Lola remarried. Her new husband (stay with me here…) happened to be the younger brother of her first husband. (See Deuteronomy, Chapter 25) Lucas North was recast from his bit part of brother-in-law-to-Lola and took on the lead role of husband-to-same, and consequently to serve as stepfather to his two nephews.  Lucas and Lola would welcome their own son, Stafford, in 1930. (Stafford North was well known as a Church of Christ preacher and longtime Bible professor at Oklahoma Christian University. He died in 2020.)

As the home was under construction, Lucas also began to erect a building at 1634 Campus Court just across from the newly relocated ACC campus. North’s building would serve as a dry cleaners and his tailor shop.  At the top of the brick building, he added the name “North,” cast in concrete relief.  

Lucas would operate ACC Cleaners and work as a tailor from that space until 1959 when he sold the business. (ACC Cleaners became ACU Cleaners and continued to operate in the building until 1984 when it relocated to Judge Ely Boulevard.) Today the ACU Police Department occupies Mr. North’s old tailor shop, and you can still see “North” along the roofline —and, now you know why it’s up there! Drive slowly, you’ll spot it.  And then drive down Washington Boulevard past El Mirador, you will notice, in comparison to the photos below, little has changed. (However, that architecturally incompatible front yard lamp post has got to go.)

ACC Campus 1930. ACC Cleaners, facing Campus Court, highlighted..

Lola North continued to teach at ACC, often hosting student groups and study clubs in her beloved home while also devoting much of her time in serving Abilene’s Hispanic congregations.  Lola contracted pneumonia and passed away at the Baptist Sanitarium (Hendrick) in 1936. She was only 44.  She was buried in the Abilene City Cemetery next to her first husband.

Lucas North sold El Mirador by the early 1940s and moved to a house located next door to the cleaners at 1626 Campus Court. That home still stands. Lucas remarried and with his second wife, Noma—who was more than 25 years younger—they had a son they named John.  

Starting in the ‘40s, El Mirador was home to the manager of Grissom’s Department Store, Melvin Gililland and his wife Margaret “Addie.” They lived there for more than 20 years. The home most recently changed hands in 2022.

Lucas North died in 1976 and Noma in 1990. They are buried beside Herschel and Lola. John North lives in Abilene. 

Enjoy the drive,