450 NE 10th St
Pompano Beach, FL, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Sample-McDougald House (Sample Estate; Pinehaven; McDougald House; BD1098)

Statement of Significant:

The Sample-McDougald House is locally significant under Criterion C as the best example of Colonial Revival domestic architecture in Broward County, Florida. The house, built in 1916, has been an important landmark in Broward County and South Florida since the early part of the twentieth century. The house is distinguished by its architectural detail, size, and virtually unaltered condition.

HISTORIC CONTEXT

Albert Neal Sample built the house only two decades after Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway had been extended south of Palm Beach toward Miami. In 1916, much of northern Broward County was little removed from the frontier lifestyle of earlier times; the town of Pompano and Deerfield were but small farming communities.'
Sample (commonly known by his middle name, Neal) followed his brother John to South Florida, arriving from South Carolina in 1911.2 John had acquired a significant amount of farmland, mostly from the FEC Railway. Neal took over the agricultural enterprise in 1915 when John decided to move out of South Florida. Neal set about building a new family home on his property, fronting the FEC Railway tracks the Dixie Highway.
Apparently, Neal had some architectural training, and was known as a person who paid attention to details. Whereas much of Broward County's buildings at that time were constructed in a vernacular style, Sample's new house was noteworthy for its Colonial Revival architectural style. It was also significant for its size, over 4500 square feet of interior space. Few, if any, residential structures in the area were as large.

Neal Sample built a residence that would befit his status as a major landowner and farmer, a civic leader and an elected official. To gain access to his farmland, he had constructed an east-west road that is known today as Sample Road. Sample died in 1941, and his daughter, Lois Barksdale, briefly owned the house.

In 1943, William and Sarah McDougald of Deerfield Beach purchased the house and occupied it the following year. William was a farmer as well as Chief of Police for Deeerfield Beach and a Broward County Deputy Sheriff. He held several elected offices and was active in civic affairs. His wife was songwriter and active in the local community. They had seven children. Following Mrs. McDougald's death in 1979, the house was owned jointly by the McDougald siblings. In 1984 the house was placed in the National Register of Historic Places. Even at that time, however, commercial and residential development was encroaching on the house. Widening of Dixie Highway further damaged the local landmark's historical context. Anxious to see the house preserved for future generations, the McDougalds supported several attempts to preserve it, but logistical and financial complexities could not be overcome."

In 1999 several community volunteers created the Sample McDougald House Preservation Society and sought community support to move and restore the historic structure. The McDougald heirs donated the house to the new organization, and the City of Pompano Beach agreed to a long-term lease on a multi-acre site that would provide a more natural surrounding for the house. On May 30, 2001 the house was moved from its original site and relocated a little over two miles to its new location. The house was cited on the property with guidance form the Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation. The house survived the move with no damage, and it remains an exceptional architectural artifact of South Florida's heritage, worthy of regaining its status as a National Register property.