Nominations open for 2012 Good Brick Awards

August 10, 2011
Good Brick Awards

Greater Houston Preservation Alliance is now accepting nominations for the 2012 Good Brick Awards for excellence in historic preservation. Updated guidelines and nomination forms are available online at www.ghpa.org/awards. All entries must be received at GHPA’s office by 3 p.m. Monday, September 12, 2011.

To qualify, preservation projects must be located within Harris County and must have been completed within the last three years. Commercial, residential and institutional projects are eligible for awards. If qualified entries are received, GHPA may also present Good Bricks for heritage education programs, stewardship of historic properties, landscape design, books and craftsmen.

Anyone may submit a nomination. In the case of building projects, the nominee must be the property owner who carried out the project. Nominating yourself will not affect your chances for receiving an award.

A jury of preservation and design professionals, community leaders and previous award winners selects the Good Brick recipients. Former Houston Chronicle home design editor and GHPA Board Secretary Madeleine McDermott Hamm will serve as jury chair. The Good Brick Awards will be presented during GHPA’s Cornerstone Dinner in early 2012.

HISD to preserve Art Deco landmark

June 30, 2011
Montrose

Houston Independent School District trustees have voted to fund the renovation of the Settegast Estate Building (1938) as part of the new Carnegie Vanguard High School (CVHS) for gifted and talented students. According the CVHS PTO President Peggy Sue Gay, the building will serve as the high school’s art annex and include a 130-seat theater, art room and photo lab.

Architects Moore & Lloyd designed the building at 242-256 West Gray Avenue as an investment property for the Settegast Estate. The structure’s large, stepped turret anchors a pivot point on West Gray and is visible from Montrose Boulevard. Houston’s Orange Crush bottling plant occupied part of the building through the 1950s.

Members of the CVHS PTO worked diligently to prevent the building’s demolition. They were supported in their efforts by HISD trustees Larry Marshall, Juliet Stipeche and Carol Mims Galloway.

The Settegast Estate Building is part of GHPA’s book Houston Deco and its companion website, www.houstondeco.org.

Settegast Estate Building (1938, Moore & Lloyd). Photo by Jim Parsons.

City Council creates 3 new historic districts

June 29, 2011
Historic Districts

On June 29, Houston City Council designated three new City of Houston historic districts: Glenbrook Valley, Heights South and Woodland Heights. A majority of homeowners in each of these neighborhoods signed and submitted petitions requesting the district designations.

Glenbrook Valley becomes the only City of Houston historic district outside of Loop 610. The southeast Houston neighborhood is on the west side of the Gulf Freeway and contains an extensive collection of Mid-Century Modern homes, including distinctive houses built for the 1956 Parade of Homes.

Heights South Historic District is south of 11th Street and east of Yale Street in Houston Heights. Woodland Heights Historic District is on the north and south sides of Bayland Street on the west side of Houston Avenue. Historic houses in these two new districts date primarily from the first decades of the 20th century and include a variety of traditional styles.

Congratulations to the homeowners who worked so diligently so that their neighborhoods could share the benefits and protections of historic district designation.

Thanks to Mayor Annise Parker, District H Council Member Ed Gonzalez and District I Council Member James Rodriguez, whose Council districts include the new historic districts, and all of the City Council members who voted to accept the homeowners’ requests and designated the three new districts.

Thanks also to the members of Greater Houston Preservation Alliance as well as the members of Houston Mod, the Historic Districts Coalition and local members of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Preservation Texas who contacted their Council members in support of the new historic districts.

City Council votes

Glenbrook Valley Historic District

FOR: Mayor Annise Parker, District A Brenda Stardig, District D Wanda Adams, District E Mike Sullivan, District F Al Hoang, District H Ed Gonzales, District I James Rodriguez, At Large 1 Stephen Costello, At Large 2 Sue Lovell, At Large 3 Melissa Noriega

AGAINST: District C Anne Clutterbuck, District G Oliver Pennington, At Large 4 Brad Bradford, At Large 5 Jolanda Jones.

Heights South Historic District

FOR: Parker, Stardig, Adams, Hoang, Gonzales, Rodriguez, Costello, Lovell, Noriega

AGAINST: Clutterbuck, Sullivan, Pennington, Bradford, Jones

Woodland Heights Historic District

FOR: Parker, Stardig, Adams, Hoang, Gonzales, Rodriguez, Costello, Lovell, Noriega

AGAINST: Clutterbuck, Sullivan, Pennington, Bradford, Jones

District B Council Member Jarvis Johnson was absent.

From left, Woodland Heights Historic District, Glenbrook Valley Historic District, Heights South Historic District. Photos by Jim Parsons, Robert Searcy and David Bush.

LBJ’s Houston home for sale

June 28, 2011
Real Estate

The house where future U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson lived while he was teaching in Houston is on the market. The Queen Anne/Colonial Revival style house at the corner of Hawthorne and Garrott streets was built in 1906; it is a contributing building in the Westmoreland Historic District and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1930, Eva Johnson Bright and her husband John Bright, LBJ’s aunt and uncle, owned the house and taught in Houston public schools. Their nephew had recently graduated from college and was looking for a job. With John Bright’s help, the aspiring politician was hired as a debate teacher at Sam Houston High School.

LBJ lived in the house with his aunt and uncle from 1930 to 1931, when he left Houston for Washington, D.C. and a job as an administrative assistant to Texas Congressman Richard Kleberg. The house is still owned by the family of Johnson’s Houston relatives.

Click here for additional information about the property. The home’s street address is 435 Hawthorne; the listing address is 3411 Garrott Street.

435 Hawthorne Street (1906), Westmoreland Historic District. Photo by Jim Parsons.

Pending historic districts go to City Council

June 27, 2011
Historic Districts

This week, Houston City Council will consider the future of three new historic districts: Heights South, Woodland Heights and Glenbrook Valley. A majority of property owners in these three communities have signed petitions requesting to have their neighborhoods designated as City of Houston historic districts.

It is important to contact your district Council member and all of the at-large Council members even if you do not live in a historic district or have historic districts in your area. The at-large Council members are your Council members; they represent the entire city. During the last votes on historic districts, some at-large Council members said they had not received any e-mails from historic district supporters.

Links to the e-mail addresses of all Houston City Council members are below. Please copy and paste the message in this e-mail, send it to your district City Council member and all of the at-large Council members and ask them to vote to protect these historic neighborhoods. If you are a property owner in one of the pending historic districts, please include that information in your messages to City Council.

The three districts are on Houston City Council’s Wednesday, June 29 agenda. If you would like to speak before City Council during the public session at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 28, please call the City Secretary’s office at 832-393-1100 no later than 1 p.m. June 28.

Use the subject line – Protect Houston’s historic neighborhoods

Copy and paste the following message -

Dear Council Member LAST NAME:

I am writing as one of your constituents to ask you to vote for the Heights South, Woodland Heights and Glenbrook Valley historic districts. [If applicable: I am a property owner in the NAME historic district; designation protects my neighborhood's historic character and my property values.]

YOUR NAME
STREET ADDRESS

Use these links to contact your district Council member and all of the at-large Council members -

District A – Brenda Stardig, districta@houstontx.gov

District B – Jarvis Johnson, districtb@houstontx.gov

District C – Anne Clutterbuck, districtc@houstontx.gov

District D – Wanda Adams, districtd@houstontx.gov

District E – Mike Sullivan, districte@houstontx.gov

District F – Al Hoang, districtf@houstontx.gov

District G – Oliver Pennington, districtg@houstontx.gov

District H – Ed Gonzalez, districth@houstontx.gov

District I – James Rodriguez, districti@houstontx.gov

At-Large 1 – Stephen Costello, atlarge1@houstontx.gov

At-Large 2 – Sue Lovell, atlarge2@houstontx.gov

At-Large 3 – Melissa Noriega, atlarge3@houstontx.gov

At-Large 4 – Brad Bradford, atlarge4@houstontx.gov

At-Large 5 – Jolanda Jones, atlarge5@houstontx.gov

Blast from the past

June 14, 2011
GHPA

A new archive feature on GHPA’s recently redesigned website allows you to research or reminisce about historic preservation in Houston. The archive includes GHPA newsletters dating back to the first edition in 1983. The publications document the evolution of the preservation movement in Houston and are good sources of information on historic buildings.

If you have any issues of the newsletter that are not on the website, please e-mail GHPA and we will make arrangements to scan your copy and add it to the archive.

The Astrodome matters, and so does your vote

June 1, 2011
Astrodome
1 Comment

The AstrodomeHow many buildings have been the site of a Mickey Mantle home run, welcomed the Gemini astronauts and hosted a concert by Judy Garland with The Supremes all during their opening year? Just one that we know of: Houston’s Astrodome.

Let everyone know that you think the Astrodome matters by voting today in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2011 This Place Matters Community Challenge.

Click here to vote for the Dome. You must have an e-mail address to vote and only one vote per e-mail address will be counted. Voting continues through 5 p.m. Thursday, June 30, so forward this message to friends, family and colleagues, and encourage them to vote for the Dome.

Greater Houston Preservation Alliance and Houston Mod nominated the iconic stadium to demonstrate the level of community support for preserving “The Eighth Wonder of the World.” The Dome was selected as one of 100 historic sites to compete in the nationwide challenge.

When you vote, you’ll also be supporting historic preservation in Houston. Organizations that rally the most individual supporters will be in the running for a $25,000 award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, with support from Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company and National Trust Insurance Services.

The Astrodome matters, and your vote matters. Please vote now.

Photo by Ed Schipul. Used with permission.

Free program will highlight sustainability in preservation

May 5, 2011
Events

Architect, planner and historian Barbara Campagna, FAIA, LEED AP, will discuss “Sustainability & Preservation: The Perfect Match” during a free public program at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 10, at the University of St. Thomas’ Jones Hall, 3910 Yoakum Boulevard. Her presentation will focus on the important links between historic preservation and sustainability.

Campagna is the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s liaison with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). She has been assisting in the effort to incorporate preservation into the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.

The program is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. Paid parking is available in the Moran Center Parking Garage on West Alabama at Graustark.

The program is being presented by GHPA, USGBC-Texas Gulf Coast Chapter, AIA Houston and Houston Mod with additional support from the Association for Preservation Technology International-Texas Chapter and Preservation Texas.

Downtown’s Wilson Building slated for restoration

May 2, 2011
Downtown

New owners are restoring the former Wilson Stationery & Printing Co. Building (1932) in downtown Houston. A private partnership, 500 Fannin LLC, has hired Ziegler Cooper Architects to design the renovation. Fretz Construction is the general contractor. The Downtown Redevelopment Authority has approved a façade preservation grant for the project.

William Ward Watkin, supervising architect for the construction of the Rice Institute (now Rice University) campus, designed the historic building at the corner of Fannin Street and Prairie Avenue. The Wilson Building’s Art Deco design is a departure from Watkin’s usual classically inspired works.

The Wilson Building has stood vacant for many years, but much of its original detailing has survived. The building is featured in GHPA’s book Houston Deco: Modernistic Architecture of the Texas Coast; more photos of the Wilson Building and its detailing are available on the Houston Deco website.

Photo: Wilson Building, c. 1932 (GHPA file)

 

River Oaks Center changes compromise Art Deco design

April 27, 2011
River Oaks

Weingarten Realty Investors is installing corner turrets, taller parapets, sandstone elements and larger signs on the historic River Oaks Shopping Center (1937, 1948) on West Gray at South Shepherd. The alterations, pictured at left, are changing the profile of the Art Deco landmark and compromising its low, streamlined design. The work is being carried out on all of the historic buildings in the center except the River Oaks Theater (1939).

In 2007, Weingarten Realty demolished one of the distinctive curved sections of the original shopping center. The extended height, new signs and, particularly, the sandstone detailing are in keeping with the appearance of the new Barnes & Noble wing built on the site of the demolished historic building.

River Oaks Shopping Center is a designated City of Houston historic landmark. Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission denied a Certificate of Appropriateness for this project, but Houston’s historic preservation ordinance allowed the City to issue permits for the work after a 90-day waiting period.

Amendments to the preservation ordinance eliminated the 90-day waiver in designated City of Houston historic districts. Individually designated landmarks that are not in historic districts can still be altered or demolished after 90 days. River Oaks Shopping Center is not located in a City of Houston historic district.

See photos of the River Oaks Shopping Center before the alterations.

Photos: April 2011 alterations to River Oaks Shopping Center (1948 expansion, Raymond H. Brogniez), 1953-1993 W. Gray Avenue. (photos by Jim Parsons)