Saturday, February 25, 2017 • Page 1B
Every home has a history
Aerial renderings of 33 1/3 @Thirty-fourth show space for food truck parking, as well as streetside walkability. Contributed photo
Space continues clearing along 34th St. and Ella
The Do-Over: Behind the Gingerbread of a Victorian Cottage Restoration By Cynthia Lescalleet For The Leader Before a preview tour earlier this month could highlight a restorationready Victorian cottage, the property needed serious prep work. So down came the leaning shed and several viewblocking treelets. Tidied was the overgrown yard. Cleared was the crawl space below the structure. And up went a new wooden fence. The 1895 vintage home then opened up for preservationists and others curious about the pending transformation particulars – or the painstaking process to achieve them. Located on a corner of Sabine and Shearn streets in the High First Ward’s Historic District, the faded-but-surprisingly sound structure will be another project – number 13 – by FW Heritage’s Dominic Yap and Lin Chong, who specialize in respectful restorations of older and historic properties. Several of their projects have earned recognition from Preservation Houston. Their Woodland Heights home is a 2017 recipient of a Good Brick Award; they are among those to be honored at the organization’s 2017 Cornerstone Dinner on March 3. While proud of that recognition for previous work, the couple is looking forward to the project ahead, expected to take six or seven months. Despite its age, the home has had few owners and few updates from its original condition and floor plan. To find an older property with intact elements is unusual, Chong said. To find one almost entirely intact is “a Mission Impossible. It’s wonderful. It’s shocking.” And it’s enticing. “Every home is different. Every home is special. Every home has a history,” she said. “The house will always tell us the story if our eyes and
By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
home’s origins to Frederick Cornelius Bammel and wife Caroline (Carrie), who lived in it until her death in 1938 and his in 1944. Other Bammel brothers also built in the area, which is considered one of Houston’s early neighborhoods. Among the outstanding features awaiting the project team was the ornate front door. Brightly painted and accented by colored glass, the door’s Eastlakestyle woodwork carries unusual etched details that ring a bit Bavarian. Tall, wide windows and oversized doors capped by transoms helped air circulation long before slight modifications for a few a/c window units. Since woodwork throughout most of the home hasn’t been layered in decades of paint, trim detailing runs deep, said project architect David Jefferies of Grayform Architecture. Despite a sagging front porch, the gingerbread trim, railings and finials are intact, as are sturdy wainscoting in the entry hall and fretwork above an archway’s portiere rod that According to Lin Chong, finding an older home with in- indicates an old time trantact elements is unusual. Finding one almost entirely sition between the more intact, like this front door, is ‘Mission Impossible.’ public and private parts of the home. ears are open enough to see and hear The renovators had opened up small what it’s telling us.” sections of walls and ceilings to assess DETAILS, DETAILS See Do-Over P. 2B FW Heritage materials attribute the
With demolition scheduled in mid-March on the building that the Surfhouse and Houston Panini & Provisions used to call home, the work continues on Revive Development’s overhaul of the southwest corner of 34th Street and Ella. Original estimates were for construction to be complete by late 2016. Although that is not the case, the build out of the adjacent L-shaped building is making steady progress. As of press time, the only announced tenant was the Surfhouse, an Oak Forest institution. Across the street, the second phase of demolition on the site for 33 1/3 @ Thirty-
Garden Oak Elementary and HISD officials broke ground last week.
including the ceremonial groundbreaking complete with shovels and hardhats. “We’re going to have a lot more students and more room,” Garden Oaks 5thgrader Athena Atkinson said. “I think it’s going to be really great.” HISD Board of Education Trustee Anna Eastman recalled the challenges she faced when turning the neighborhood elementary school with a Montessori program
into a full-fledged Montessori school in 2011. “It was worth every ounce of effort,” said Eastman, noting the school continues to attract a waiting list of students every year. With the enrollment growth and the recent creation of a middle-school program, the addition and renovations couldn’t come at a better time. At Garden Oaks, foundation work is well underway for the first addition, and utilities
Crossroads sChool, InC.
See Ella P. 2B
Braun continues fast pace of purchasing standalone buildings In December, Braun Enterprises purchased the Pizza Hut at 1805 West 18th in 2017. “We are talking to several local restaurant concepts about taking over the space,” said Zach Wolf of Braun Enterprises. “We want to do something cool and local here to help out the neighborhood. Hughie’s does really well across the street. We want to help add local concepts to the area.” It won’t be the first time that Braun has purchased a standalone building and leased it to a restaurant. Here’s a recent rundown. AGU Ramen 7340 Washington Ave Formerly: Christian’s Tailgate Chain? Yes, both in Hawaii and curiously, Texas. “I think Los Angeles, west coast, east coast, New York. They have established ramen culture, but in the center of United States, Texas, it’s still new, but I think in the next few years, it’s going to be a food metropolitan state,” owner Teddy Uehara told Hawaii’s KHON2 of his choice to expand here. What they serve: Japanese noodles and broth with choice ingredients. What they say: “The namesake of our restaurant refers to premium grade pork from Okinawa, Agu. The heart of our menu, Tonkotsu Ramen is considered by many as ‘the king of ramen’ where rich, slow cooked pork broth is the centerpiece. We use exceptional ingredients and implement best techniques in preparing our made from scratch soups.”
$26 million project begins at GOM Garden Oaks Montessori is among 40 HISD schools being renovated or rebuilt across the district as part of the voter-approved 2012 Bond Program, and officials joined students, teachers and Principal Lindsey Pollock last week to formally break ground. Plans for the $26.7 million project include new and renovated classroom spaces, a new multipurpose gymnasium, a secure and defined main entrance, additional parking, and bus and parent drop-off driveways. Community support was evident as dozens of neighbors, parents, and HISD leadership turned out. Entertainment was provided by the Waltrip High School Jazz band and the Garden Oaks Montessori Leadership Choir. Garden Oaks students also assembled outside to watch,
fourth from Crescere Capital Management is complete. El Rey and the Century Marketing storefront are now gone, revealing the space that Crescere has to work with on the southeast corner of 34th and Ella. In a recent video Crescere posted online, Chris Hotze said that he’s about to start construction on the 2.5-acre retail development designed by Gensler architects Peter Merwin and Ted Rubenstein. In addition to the 2.5 acres that Hotze has announced plans for, he also owns the nearby Texas Bus Sales lot, as well a vacant lot and two private homes. In August, Swamplot announced Hotze’s latest acqui-
are scheduled to start soon. “I’m thrilled. It’s just going to be beautiful,” said Brenda de Alba, who served on the school’s Project Advisory Team and is a member of the Garden Oaks Civic Club. “It’s going to benefit the neighborhood.” “The new construction will help our students by providing ‘right-sized’ classrooms to accommodate the Montessori methodology,” Pollock added. “Our children benefit from a free-flowing environment where students are able to work in small groups and independently with hands-on Montessori materials. Spaces for music, art, science labs and robotics along with an indoor gymnasium will expand students’ learning experiences. It’s a dream for the future, come true.”
The Rice Box 300 W 20th St Formerly: Chirps Chicken and Rice Chain? Yes, if you consider two locations a chain. The other is in Greenway Plaza. What they serve: Chinese classics, craft beers, teas What they say: “It’s one step closer to the White Dragon Noodle Bar,” owner John Peterson told the Chronicle, referring to the Blade Runner food stand that was his visual inspiration for the Rice Box truck. Tacos a Go Go 3401 W T C Jester Blvd Formerly: Roznovsky’s Hamburgers Chain? Yes, two other locations in The Heights and Midtown What they serve: Um, tacos…among other Tex Mex favorites What they say: “When I got out of the biz to have kids, I decided the only way I’d get back in was with casual Tex-Mex this time, because Houstonians have an insatiable appetite for it, literally eating Tex-Mex four and five times a week,” owner Sharon Haynes said. “The kitsch Mexican street culture that goes with it is so much fun. I would love to do this style of fast-casual for Indian, Thai, and more, but that might have to wait for another life.”
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