Samuel May Williams Designer Show House - Completion

On Friday, May 2nd, the Samuel May Williams House was completed in time for the opening of the 2008 GHF Historic Homes Tour. The Historic Homes Tour is the first two weekends in May, but the ASID Designer Showhouse will be open the first four weekends in May and also on Memorial Day. The transformation of the house has been amazing and feedback has been very positive. If you are in the area during the month of May, please visit the 1839 Samuel May Williams House and see the new energy that these 12 designers gave to the house. You may purchase tickets from http://www.galvestonhistory.org/ or https://tix.extremetix.com/tix/SilverStream/Pages/pgIndex.html?siteID=1587 Tickets may also be purchased at the 1861 Custom House - 502 20th Street, Ashton Villa's Heritage Visitor Center - 2328 Broadway or at the Williams House on the days it is open - 3601 Avenue P.



Once the ASID Designer Showhouse is closed, the installations will be removed and the house will be available for rent to a property curator. We are excited to have someone living there again, since this is the best use for a house. For more information on rental of the 1839 Samuel May Williams House, please contact GHF at 409.765.7834.




Here are a few before and after shots of the renovations:

GHF Preservation Awards and Endangered List Nominations

The Preservation Resource Committee of Galveston Historical Foundation (GHF) is calling for nominations for its annual Preservation Awards and Heritage at Risk list. The awards and list will be announced in May in observance of National Historic Preservation Month.

“Galveston is home to one of the strongest preservation ethics in the country,” said GHF executive director Dwayne Jones. “As more and more property owners rehabilitate their buildings, it is important that we stop and recognize good work.

“At the same time, the risk to the heritage embodied in buildings and places is always present,” said Jones. “Preservationists around the world use endangered properties lists as a powerful tool to call attention to urgent cases and inspire action in their defense.” Best known of these lists is “America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places” list, compiled annually by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, of which GHF is an official partner.

Nominations for preservation awards for buildings that have been successfully renovated in the past two years, as well as for buildings and sites that could benefit from increased awareness of their endangerment, should be submitted by Friday, April 18, and will be reviewed by a panel familiar with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.

In selecting its annual Preservation Award recipients, GHF’s Preservation Resource Committee is guided by the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. These are best practices when attempting a good historic preservation project. According to these standards, a successful restoration must:

1. Be true to the building’s historic form and use
2. Preserve the elements that define the building’s historic character
3. Not create a false sense of history
4. Protect and preserve important additions or modifications
5. Highlight unique craftsmanship and materials
6. Repair damaged elements when possible, and, where replacement is necessary, match the original in material, texture, color and design
7. Proceed cautiously and gently when cleaning historic finishes and materials
8. Protect buried historic records and artifacts;
9. Insure that modifications and additions are compatible with the historic fabric of the neighborhood, but remain identifiable as new
10. Make additions to a structure such that they may be removed at a later date while still keeping the character of the historic building or place.

Please send us your nominations today.

http://www.galvestonhistory.org/Preservation_Awards_Nominations.asp

Samuel May Williams Designer Show House - VIII

Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . . work continues in high gear for completing the improvements to the Williams House. Plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and painters are all on site. Historic plumbing fixtures from the GHF Salvage Warehouse will be refinished and used in the master bathroom. The electricans from Image Electric in Houston (713.937.0126)
www.imageelectric.org have been great to work with over the past couple weeks. As with all renovations in older buildings, flexibility is a must when unknown areas are opened up.

The ASID interior designers will be installing their design concepts in the house over the next few weeks. Tickets for the designer show house and the GHF Historic Homes Tour are now available at http://www.galvestonhistory.org/ .

Samuel May Williams - Evolution of the House - Elevations

Not only did the Samuel May Williams floor plans change with time, but several events modified the elevations of the house as well. From the addition of the south porch by Williams, to a fire in 1890 which destroyed the original cupola to the raising of the island after the 1900 storm, the house has taken on many looks.

During the renovations currently taking place with the house, the exterior will remain unchanged. Some rotten wood has been replaced and a fresh coat of paint has been applied, in the same colors that the house was painted at the time of Samuel May Williams' death in 1858.

East Elevation (front) changes:

West Elevation (back) changes:

Samuel May Williams - Evolution of the House - Plans

When some walls and floors were recently opened up, it was clear to see that the Samuel May Williams House has changed several times since it was built in 1839. A historic structures report from 1978 studied these changes. The house is very Creole in form and matches the typical plan of this style from the 1820s, as shown (M2i) in this illustration from Louisianas Remarkable French Vernacular Architecture by Jay D. Edwards (1988).




The report calls out four distinct phases of construction and renovations to the building:

Phase I - Original Construction (c. 1839-1842)




This was a simple Creole plan with a semi-detached brick kitchen and a front and back porch.


Phase II - Williams' Alterations (c. 1842 - 1860)



In the first set of renovations, the south porch was constructed and portions of the back porch were taken in as rooms.


Phase III - Post Williams' Alterations ( c. 1860-1900)



During Phase III, interior doors were cut between rooms, a small lean-to shed was built behind the kitchen and the steps were shortened when the island was raised after the 1900 Storm.


Phase IV - Post Williams' Alterations (c. 1900 - present)

Samuel May Williams Designer Show House - VII

The wood floors have been cleaned and sealed to 90% completion and covered to protect them while the interior is painted. The tall palm and pecan trees have been pruned and limbs trimmed from hanging over the roof. Exterior painting is completed and electrical and plumbing repairs are under way.

Tickets are now available online for purchase to attend the 2008 Historic Homes Tour and also the ASID Show House: http://www.galvestonhistory.org/Galveston_Historic_Homes_Tour.asp

Samuel May Williams Designer Show House - VI

Painting of the exterior is nearing completion and work continues with installation of walls and doors on the interior of the designer show house. The warm rich color of the wood floors is being brought back by Schenck and Company - Houston specialists in wood floors - 713.266.7608 - http://www.schenckandcompany.com/ . They have done an amazing job so far and are not sanding the floors, but giving them a deep cleaning with steel wool and applying oil and a sealant to them.