The story of the Doyle Mansion began five years after drillers first discovered oil near Houston.

It was then that a developer bet that building the house would earn him a lot of money.

But now, another developer believes tearing it down is the path to profit.

“Well, if they’ve taken out a demolition permit, it could go tonight,” Jonathan Smulian of the Heights Historic District Petition Drive said.

Harry James has been buying properties all along Heights Boulevard, tearing down homes and replacing them with what he calls “Victorian Classics.”

And now it will happen to the Doyle Mansion too.

Neighbors hope the building itself will persuade the developer not to destroy it.

Historians call it an “architectural anomaly.”

“It has some very interesting elements of its architectural style that are unique to this building and really unique to Houston, so once it’s gone, it’s gone,” Houston Historical Preservation Officer Randy Pace said.

But there may soon be another way to convince a builder not to tear down an old home.

Heights residents are just 55 signatures away from submitting petitions that would designate two neighborhoods as historic districts.  That would require a three-month delay before a developer could knock down a historic structure.

“But what the 90 days is for is to educate property owners for that time or explore alternatives to demolition or inappropriate activity,” Pace said.

“It would deter the demolition of buildings, historic buildings, in the Heights,” Smulian said.

Unfortunately for the Doyle Mansion, there is no ordinance in place right now.

The developer says he’s planning to replace it with something that will be part of the “future history of the Heights.”

Harry James, the builder, has pulled the right permits to begin demolition at any time.

He declined to comment on-camera but said that the Doyle Mansion has deteriorated too much to be restored.

He also said he has a “sincere respect” for the characteristics of the neighborhoods he builds in.