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Building History

The well-traveled architect William Doty Van Siclen (1865-1951) designed this residence for Patrick and Ruth Wilson Hurley (1895-1984). Hurley, a lawyer, focused on oil-and-gas law, and invested some of his fees in real estate. Patrick Jay Hurley (1883-1963), a lawyer, was the President of the Hurley-Park Investment Company in 1930 and held very important government posts during the 1920s-1940s. (See Tulsa, Oklahoma, City Directory, 1930, p. 392.) He served as President Herbert Hoover's Secretary of War (1929-1933) and US Ambassador to China (1944-1945), as well as a Brigadier General during World War II.

In 1920, Patrick and Ruth Hurley platted the Riverside Drive Addition in Tulsa, what they envisioned would be a tract of expensive houses for professionals. They sited their own house on several lots within the Riverside Drive Addition at 2700 South Boston Avenue. They commissioned Van Siclen, a friend, to design their Tudor Revival style dwelling. Cathy Ambler, who wrote the National Register of Historic Places Nomination for the Riverside Historic Residential District in 2005, said of the Hurleys and the tract: "The Riverside Drive plat was filed by Patrick J. Hurley and his wife Ruth on May 13, 1920. Even before the plat was official [sic] filed, advertisements in the May 12th Tulsa Tribune touted its lots with views and graded roads. Other ads noted the availability of graded or established roads, '80 acres restricted,' large lots that would ensure beautiful homes, and that it was directly south of Stonebraker Heights, the desirable place to live in the nineteen-teens. The Hurleys amended their plat before the end of the year and extended Boston Avenue to the property bounday at 2800 S. Boston Avenue (excluded in the district area), and further divided blocks 15 through 18 to provide more land for the Hurley's home at 2700 S. Boston. The amendment also provided medium lots in block 15 and eliminated block 18." (See Cathy Ambler, National Park Service.gov, "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for the Riverside Historic Residential District," [p. 63], prepared 03/14/2005, accessed 12/12/2023.)

The website, Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950, noted of the Hurley House in Tulsa: "Completed in 1921, this mansion reputedly cost $90,000 at the time to construct, making it one of the costliest private residences in the state." (See Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950.org, "Van Siclen, William Doty," accessed 12/12/2023.)

PCAD id: 24740