SAVING THE GOOD STUFF Fall 2016 H Volume 20 No. 4 H J oin Preservation Austin for our 56th Annual Preservation Merit Awards Celebration at the Driskill Hotel! Featured speaker Paul Gunther, Executive Director of the Gracie Mansion Conservancy and veteran of the New York arts and design world, will be followed by the presentation of awards to this year’s outstanding Preservation Merit Awards recipients. This juried program celebrates the hard work and visionary approaches of those preserving Austin’s unique architectural, cultural, and environmental heritage. This year’s nine recipients are among the best preservation projects from the past two years; it is an eclectic group, representing the many ways that Austinites have come together to breathe life into the places that we love. Congratulations to all those who made these incredible projects possible! Paul Gunther, Executive Director of New York City’s Gracie Mansiond Conservancy We are delighted to welcome Mr. Gunther, who joined the Gracie Mansion Conservancy in 2015 after 35 years in the public and private sectors. He has written for professional publications on topics including preservation, architecture, landscape design, land use, and art history, often through a sociopolitical lens. He 56th Annual Preservation served as president of the Institute of Classical Architecture & H Merit Awards Celebration Art for ten years, and is the former Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Director of Development at the New York Friday, October 28, 2016 Historical Society; Director of Development and American Liaison Check-In Begins at 11am at the American Center in Paris; and the Director of Development Program Runs from 11:30 to 1:30pm and Public Affairs at the Municipal Art Society of New York. Driskill Hotel, 604 Brazos Street Mr. Gunther will bring his incisive perspective to the intersection $100 per guest; Ticket Sales End October 21 at Noon of, and conflicts between, economic development and historic preservation as American cities plunge into the 21st century. Tickets are available at preservationaustin.org/events. Space is limited so please purchase by Friday, October 21. dContinued on page 3 Austin Foundation for Architecture Supports New Historic Austin Tours The Austin Foundation for Architecture (AFA) has awarded 2016-2017 Board of Directors Preservation Austin a $2,400 grant to expand our Historic H EXECUTIVE COMMITEE H Austin Tours series! This funding John Donisi, President Vanessa McElwrath, 1st VP will support the development Ken Johnson, President-Elect Richard Kooris, 2nd VP of three new self-guided tours Clay Cary, Treasurer through the Otocast app, Samantha Davidson, Secretary featuring the Red River Cultural Alyson McGee, Immediate Past President District, the heart of Austin’s live music scene; the postwar history of the Allandale, Brentwood, H BOARD MEMBERS H and Crestview neighborhoods, featured in this year’s Homes Clayton Bullock Ann Graham Michael Strutt Tour; and MCM Austin, in partnership with Mid Tex Mod. Richard Craig Chris Hendel Lance Stumpf Tara Dudley Lori Martin Matt Swinney The AFA “promotes awareness of the built environment Lauren Smith Ford Dennis McDaniel Caroline Wright through its advocacy of the people and programs that Eileen Gill Dewitt Peart contribute to a high standard of living in Central Texas.” This is the third, and largest, grant its Board of Directors has awarded H REPRESENTATIVES H Preservation Austin in support of our Historic Austin Tours. This Michael Holleran, UT School of Architecture unique series educates our community about Austin’s diverse Charles Peveto, Austin History Center Michelle Slattery, Inherit Austin culture and past by providing free, engaging, easy-to-use Bob Ward, Travis County Historical Commission content not available anywhere else. We’re so grateful to the AFA for making this possible yet again. H H BENEFACTOR H Tim Cuppett & Marco Rini H WATERLOO CIRCLE H Paula & Lee Aaronson Jill & Dennis McDaniel Suzanne Deal Booth Vanessa & Mac McElwrath Ann Butler Alyson McGee & Mark Wolfe Karen & Clay Cary Emily Moreland Reenie & Kent Collins Carole & George Nalle, III Richard Craig Carol Nelson Sam & Ty Davidson Julie & Patrick Oles, Jr. John Donisi & Gina Hinojosa Mary Paver Regan & William Gammon Charles Aubrey Smith, Jr. Ann S. Graham & Arlen Johnson Charles Stuart H STAFF Elizabeth & Tom Granger Lin Team & Lewis Donelson Catherine & Clarke Heidrick Bratten Thomason & Randy Dalton Kate Singleton, Executive Director Shelly & Todd Hemingson David Wilson Lindsey Derrington, Programs Coordintor Dealey & David Herndon Patricia Winston & Bill Head Mailing Address - P.O. Box 2113, Austin, TX 78768 Meta Butler Hunt Eva & Marvin Womack Physical Address - 500 Chicon, Austin, 78702 Peter Flagg Maxson & Ph. (512) 474-5198 Fax (512) 476-8687 John C. R. Taylor, III [email protected] www.preservationaustin.org 2 Fall 2016 H AWARDSd RECIPIENTS 500 CHICON H leaky windows. The open interior’s double- HIGHLAND AVENUE H 500 Chicon Street, height atrium and exposed brick walls BUNGALOW East Cesar Chavez Neighborhood made the space difficult to heat and cool 606 Highland Avenue, Old West Austin H Texas Society of Architects, either consistently or efficiently. Neighborhood Preservation Award for Sustainability H Nick and Kathleen Deaver, TSA enlisted Earl Swisher, AIA of the Preservation Award for Contemporary When the Gulf Refining Company completed Lawrence Group and Flynn Construction Addition to an Historic Building its new distributing station at Chicon and for a second renovation to enhance 5th Streets in 1923, this bustling intersection thermal performance while preserving the Architect Nick Deaver and wife Kathleen along the Houston and Texas Central rail building’s historic character. Construction purchased this classic Austin bungalow in lines was home to an oil mill, two cotton commenced in December 2015 and was the West Line National Historic District in gins, and an H&TC round house. Today only completed in May 2016. A new metal roof 1999. The home, built in 1918, had fallen the Gulf building at 500 Chicon remains, a with improved insulation reflects sunlight on hard times: asbestos shingles covered reminder of East Austin’s industrial past at a and heat. Steel-framed windows have been its clapboard siding; thin, inappropriate time when development is rapidly reshaping preserved and repaired as necessary, and replacement columns struggled to support this part of the city. custom-designed interior storm windows its sagging gabled porch; the foundation insulate each window opening, none of was in need of replacement. Graphic design firm FD2S purchased the brick which was identical to the next. A new and reinforced concrete warehouse in 1999 Nick designed, and together they air-conditioning system balances climate and oversaw the building’s transformation embarked, on a 15-year rehabilitation control in multiple zones throughout into modern office space, which Preservation and addition project which nearly tripled the building for efficiency and comfort. Austin (then the Heritage Society of Austin) the home’s square footage to strike A new metal canopy shades expansive honored with 2002 Preservation Merit a stunning balance between old and windows along the building’s south Award. Texas Society of Architects (TSA), new. The project uncovered the original façade, providing a traditional solution to the statewide component of the American siding and removed layers of carpet and protecting the building from the glaring Institute of Architects, acquired the vinyl from original longleaf pine floors. Texas sun. building for its headquarters nine years Extensive research and analysis facilitated later. Despite the earlier renovation, 500 The project demonstrates TSA’s the restoration of Craftsman style porch Chicon still suffered from a leaky roof and commitment to stewarding 500 Chicon Continued on page 4 well into the 21st century through sustainable upgrades. It is excellent example of how minimal, but impactful, interventions can dramatically tighten the building envelop without destroying historic character. 500 Chicon, Photo by Kevin Halliburton, AIA Highland Avenue Bungalow, Photo by Whit Preston, www.whitpreston.com PRESERVATION AUSTIN 3 H Merit Awards, continued from page 3 NEILL-COCHRAN H major wood features, including its 26-foor- tall Doric portico, suffering from wood rot; supports and interior woodwork. A HOUSE MUSEUM damaged windows in need of glazing and “modern plinth” of steel and concrete 2310 San Gabriel Street, West Campus Neighborhood new mullions; and historic blinds which were punctuated by expanses of full-height H National Society of the Colonial deteriorating in storage. glass replaced the failing foundation and Dames of America in Texas, partial basement. This addition emerges Preservation Award for Restoration Contractor Joe Pinnelli, along with project from the sloping site to house Nick’s manager Mike Austin and NCHM Executive design studio and a new rental unit, and Master builder Abner Cook completed Director Rowena Dasch, oversaw the work. supports an elegant louvered porch off the the house that would later become the Careful management brought the project main floor’s kitchen. These contemporary Neill-Cochran House Museum (NCHM) in in under-budget, allowing the team to elements are virtually hidden from the 1856. Originally set in a pastoral, 18 acre- tackle additional repairs including restoring street, respecting the home’s original setting outside the fledgling