One of Galveston's Oldest Houses Under Renovation
By Krista Walton | Online Only | Mar. 26, 2008
This spring, the second oldest house in Galveston is undergoing a redesign, and the results may serve as an example to both owners of historic homes and operators of house museums.
Each of the 12 rooms in the 1839 Samuel May Williams House will be redesigned in a historically sensitive manner by a group of designers from the Gulf Coast chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID).
"Each of the designers did a very good job of paying respect to the original house but still updating it and making it comfortable," says Brian Davis, director of preservation services at the Galveston Historical Foundation, which owns the property. "That was kind of the whole idea, to protect the historic value of the house but also make it livable for a modern family. It's something that other people living in historic homes can look at and get ideas from."
A combination of Creole and Colonial architecture, the house, built for Galveston cofounder Samuel May Williams, was nearly demolished in 1954. Instead, the foundation purchased the Williams House as its first restoration project and operated the it as a house museum until latlast year.
Yet the number of visitors to the house museum (which was in a residential neighborhood and, says Davis, "off the beaten path" for Galveston visitors) continued to decline: In one year, only 1,100 people toured the home. "It was basically flatlining as a house museum," Davis says. So last September, the foundation closed the museum to explore new ways to increase visitation; eventually, they opted to open the site to ASID's annual interior design showcase.
The designers agreed on a common color palette of warm pinks, greens, and creams, and brought in their own furniture for the May tours. When the showcase is over, the furniture will be removed, but the kitchen and bath fixtures will remain, which means that for the first time in over 50 years the Williams House will be a fully functional home. Davis adds that, after the showcase ends, the foundation may look for a permanent resident and caretaker for the Williams House: "The best use is to have someone living in it again."
The newly redesigned site will open on May 2 and will be open for tours on weekends through May 25. More information is available at galvestonhistory.org.
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Comments
Submitted by Cookie at: April 7, 2008
Can you tell me if this house we be sold to a resident, for sure, and if there might be any guidelines or stipulations then that it must remain in its historical state? Or, do you think it will just be updated and modernized or possibly even torn down? Thank you, Bonnie True West Magazine bonnie@twmag.com