Houzz Tour: An 1850s Ancestral Home in Texas Rises Again
See how exacting research and meticulous renovations gave a retired couple their dream home on a regained family plantation
Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia. I've been writing about design online for quite a few years over at Hatch: The Design Public Blog.
Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta... More »
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In 1981 a woman and her husband cruised by the historic plantation her family had owned for generations. She had heard many stories from her grandmother about the Central Texas home her family had lost during the Great Depression, and after seeing it, she and her husband dreamed of living in it one day.
More than 30 years later, the couple retired from their corporate jobs in California and set about making their Texas dream come true. In 2004 they approached the current owners, who agreed to sell. Next they turned to husband-and-wife team John (architect) and Candace (interior designer) Volz of Volz & Associates to help them with the preservation, restoration, renovation and additions.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with a grown daughter who comes to visit; the wife is descended from the original owner
Location: About 30 miles outside of Austin, Texas
Size: About 7,000 square feet, on 200 acres
That's interesting: This home is a recorded Texas historic landmark built in 1857; the original 2,000-acre plantation was established in 1836. Part of the historic research included getting in touch with a genealogical society of descendants of slaves who had lived there; the clients hosted a lunch where they all swapped family lore, and they are still in touch.
More than 30 years later, the couple retired from their corporate jobs in California and set about making their Texas dream come true. In 2004 they approached the current owners, who agreed to sell. Next they turned to husband-and-wife team John (architect) and Candace (interior designer) Volz of Volz & Associates to help them with the preservation, restoration, renovation and additions.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with a grown daughter who comes to visit; the wife is descended from the original owner
Location: About 30 miles outside of Austin, Texas
Size: About 7,000 square feet, on 200 acres
That's interesting: This home is a recorded Texas historic landmark built in 1857; the original 2,000-acre plantation was established in 1836. Part of the historic research included getting in touch with a genealogical society of descendants of slaves who had lived there; the clients hosted a lunch where they all swapped family lore, and they are still in touch.
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| The clients and the Volzes threw themselves into researching the home's rich history while assembling a master plan. The wife had assembled family archives, photographs, interviews, handwritten family memoirs and letters. There were also a few Historic American Building Survery (HABS) photos taken in 1936 of the two parlors that designer Candace Volz analyzed down to the smallest details. The restoration portion of the project included historic finishes (such as faux marbelizing and stenciling), refurbished vintage light and plumbing fixtures, antique furniture, custom cabinetry and millwork, encaustic tile, new and vintage reproduction appliances, and historic reproduction carpets and drapes. The original Greek revival–style house was built in 1857; one of the new additions, seen here on the right side, doubles the square footage of the house. |
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The Volzes also spoke at length with the couple about how to accommodate the house to fit their lifestyle and worked on a master plan, which included a compatible addition, a lap pool, a pool house, an outdoor kitchen pavilion, a guesthouse complete with exercise room and a restoration of the family cemetery plot. All of these additions needed to honor the original house and the rural setting, preserve all the trees in the live-oak grove and take advantage of the vast pastoral views. Next the owners completed the guesthouse, and much like Martha and Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, moved into it for several years while the rest of the work took place.
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| BEFORE: A grove of live oaks hundreds of years old surrounds the house. Part of the planning involved working with an arborist to protect existing trees and their root systems during the renovations. The house required a lot of work; the crew had to disassemble the remaining chimneys, lift the house up and make thorough repairs to the crumbling foundation. The chimneys were then rebuilt. Many of the original architectural details had been destroyed, and there was extensive termite damage. |
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| BEFORE: There was also water damage inside. |
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| The additions were built to look like outbuildings would have looked back during the plantation's heyday. In this picture you can see the addition built on the back and to the side of the home. |
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| The owners love to entertain and wanted to host large family gatherings at their ancestral home; in addition to the extra bedrooms in the main house, they now have a barn-like guest structure that includes a full exercise room, bedrooms, a great room, a kitchen and a dorm-like space for the younger kids to sleep in when they are at full capacity. |
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The plantation's heyday was from the 1850s to the 1880s, so Candace used that time period as the guideline for furnishing the home. "My client did not want the house to become a museum, but as we worked together picking furnishings, she became more and more interested in placing appropriate period pieces," she explains. "I talked her into sticking with American antiques, which are what were likely used in the home and will hold their value better."
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Thanks to the HABS photos and descriptions of the ladies' parlor in family letters, Candace was able to re-create the room with a lot of integrity. Letters mentioned horsehair furniture, the seashell on the table and red roses in the carpet. Candace found a rug full of the realistic floral rococo patterns popular during the time period. A portrait of the owner's fourth great-grandmother is back in its rightful place.
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Painted rolling shades were a popular feature during the era and were also mentioned in descriptions; families incorporated them into rooms to help educate their children about foreign lands. Candace found historic engravings and shipped them to an artisan, who painted the scenes on these shades, which depict ancient Greece and Venice.
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| One of the HABS photos taken in 1936 helped the team re-create the marbelized and stenciled fireplace surround in the ladies' parlor. HABS was part of the New Deal program, which provided work to photographers, architects and draftsmen surveying America's historic buildings. |
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| Strict historic guidelines were loosened a little in what the owner refers to as the gentlemen's parlor. While the red and gold Gothic revival wool rug, madras window treatments and light fixtures are appropriate for the time period, the sofa on the left is covered in a more updated leather and hide combination, and the painting is by George Rodrigue, a modern-day New Orleans artist. "My client spent some time living in New Orleans and collected Rodrigue works," Candace says. "She gave him an old family photo taken at the plantation and had him re-create it in his distinct style." |
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Extensive restoration work took place in the library, which had been turned into a kitchen at some point. The Volzes turned to master carpenter Joe Tongate to restore all of the original tongue and groove wallboards in the home. The restored room is now an office.
Throughout the old part of the house, most of the light fixtures are reproductions, inspired by Cornelius and Hooper lighting catalogs from the period and hand crafted by Jefferson Art Lighting. The fixture in this room is an original restored Bradley and Hubbard kerosene fixture with reproduction glass globes.
Throughout the old part of the house, most of the light fixtures are reproductions, inspired by Cornelius and Hooper lighting catalogs from the period and hand crafted by Jefferson Art Lighting. The fixture in this room is an original restored Bradley and Hubbard kerosene fixture with reproduction glass globes.
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While the records indicated that extensive floorcloths had been used throughout the hallways, the client wanted to show off the beautifully restored original Bastrop pine floors. Candace took her inspiration from floorcloth patterns from the time period when designing this painted floor pattern and its Greek-style border. "It was important to the client that the grain of the floorboards show through," she says, so they were painted appropriately.
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| Upstairs, the bedrooms have new ceiling fans. If you look carefully, you may spot an HVAC vent or two (left corner of the ceiling). These were custom made from coordinating antique pine to coordinate with the wall and ceiling boards. |
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| The team analyzed the paint to match the original color. |
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| Much of the interior had only one coat of paint on it from 1857 until the 1970s. This bedroom still had the original paint, as well as scribbled notes from 1931 regarding the number of bales of cotton that year. The team flaked off the loose paint and then preserved what was left with conservator's coating, which adds a consistent and smooth layer that preserves the historic layer beneath it. |
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For modern function, a small upstairs bedroom was transformed into two bathrooms.
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| BEFORE: A poorly constructed shed-like addition existed on the back of the house; it was separate from the house, not historic and not worth saving. |
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| The new addition has a form that coordinates with the historic home; it connects with the main home through a breezeway. |
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One enters the new addition through this butler's pantry.
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The new addition is more modern, but the style still takes inspiration from the era, as seen in these light fixtures in the powder room.
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A great room, kitchen and breakfast room occupy this large, open space in the new addition. The chandelier is from Mexico and has a cactus design.
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The new master suite's walls are covered in wallboards inspired by the original house.
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| The stairs in the master suite lead up to the wife's office, where one of her beloved George Rodrigue works is displayed. |
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In the master bath, the wallboards and light fixture give a nod to the historic part of the house, but the moldings and finishes are more modern.
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Here is the master plan for the additions. The entire process, from the design phase to completed construction, took between five and six years, and the Volzes thoroughly enjoyed the process.
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The home has a lot of staying power. It survived the Civil War and the Great Depression, and during construction, a tornado narrowly missed it. Soon after the construction was complete, the owners evacuated as a major forest fire headed their way. As they were mourning the almost certain loss of their home, the winds suddenly changed and spared it.
"This is an historic home, but it's also a state-of-the-art home now," John says. "It has cutting-edge data and communications systems, insulation, a geothermal HVAC system, security and video surveillance, and LED lighting that lights up the trees with different settings." The home embraces family history and provides a wonderful place for the family to create new memories.
"This is an historic home, but it's also a state-of-the-art home now," John says. "It has cutting-edge data and communications systems, insulation, a geothermal HVAC system, security and video surveillance, and LED lighting that lights up the trees with different settings." The home embraces family history and provides a wonderful place for the family to create new memories.
Ideabook updated on Jan. 26, 2013.
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Well done
http://www.mlsfinder.com/tx_bcsr/lynnroelke/index.cfm?action=listing_detail&property_id=73366&searchkey=7c98defb-c988-6537-db60-0e806e312d45
Shirley Hutchens
Maybe we should do more of that in America.
I am VERY sure that this woman would have been THRILLED to have any sort of heat and cooling in there--I am certain she would have been THRILLED for the owners to run the duct work right out in the open if it meant she was WARM. But I am happy that they showed such a desire to have it look as it had for 200+ years. And I am thrilled to see that the owners of this Old House were careful in how THEY ran the pipework! But when I think of how our grand parents and others farther back lived--in the heat and cold--I can't imagine not ever having the chance to change the climate of the living space save using a fireplace or wood stove. As someone who lived with ONLY wood heat for a long time I am extremely happy to not have to depend on it anymore! Love/hate relationship time!
Great house--love to see more of this sort of thing.
Pity that too many are focused on grammatical descriptions of the owner/designers.
Well done, Volz family! Well done indeed.
Sincerely,
A husband and his wife.