Mysest56 
August 16, 2019
In 1981 a woman and her husband cruised from the historical plantation her family had owned for decades. She’d heard many stories from her grandmother about the Central Texas house her family had dropped through the Great Depression, and after seeing it, she and her husband dreamed of living in it one day.
More than 30 years later, the couple retired from their corporate jobs in California and set about making their Texas dream come true. In 2004 they approached that the current owners, who agreed to market. They turned into husband-and-wife team John (architect) and Candace (interior designer) Volz of Volz & Associates to assist them with the preservation, restoration, renovation and developments.
at a Glance
Who lives here: A few having a grown daughter who comes to see; the spouse is descended from the first owner
Location: About 30 miles outside of Austin, Texas
Size: About 7,000 square feet, on 200 acres
That is interesting: This residence is a recorded Texas historic landmark constructed in 1857; the first 2,000-acre plantation was established in 1836. Part of the historical research included getting in touch with a genealogical culture of descendants of slaves who’d lived there; the clients hosted a lunch at which they all swapped family lore, and they are still in touch.
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The clients and the Volzes hauled themselves into exploring the house’s rich history while building a master program. The spouse had constructed family archives, photos, interviews, handwritten family memoirs and letters. There were also several conservative American Construction Survery (HABS) photos taken in 1936 of the two parlors that designer Candace Volz analyzed down to the smallest details. The recovery part of the project included historical finishes (such as artificial marbelizing and stenciling), refurbished classic light and plumbing fittings, antique furniture, custom cabinetry and millwork, encaustic tile, fresh and classic reproduction appliances, and historical reproduction carpets and drapes.
The first Greek revival–style home was constructed in 1857; one of the newest additions, seen on the right side, doubles the square footage of the home.
The Volzes also talked at length with the few about ways to adapt the home to match their way of life and worked on a master program, which included a harmonious improvement, a lap pool, a pool house, a outside kitchen pavilion, a guesthouse full with exercise room and a recovery of the family cemetery plot. All these additions needed to honor the first home and the rural setting, preserve all of the trees at the live-oak grove and make the most of the huge pastoral views. Next the owners finished the guesthouse, and much like Martha and Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, moved into it for several years while the rest of the work took place.
Before Photo
BEFORE: A grove of live oaks hundreds of years old encircles the home. Part of the preparation involved working with an arborist to safeguard existing trees and their root systems during the renovations.
The home required a lot of work; the team needed to disassemble the remaining chimneys, lift the house up and make comprehensive repairs into the crumbling base. The chimneys were then rebuilt. A number of the original architectural details had been destroyed, and there was extensive termite damage.
Before Photo
BEFORE: There was also water damage indoors.
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The additions were built to look like outbuildings could have looked back during the plantation’s heyday. In this picture you may see the addition constructed on the back and into the side of the house.
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The owners like to entertain and wished to host big family gatherings at their ancestral home; along with the additional bedrooms in the primary house, they finally have a more barn-like guest arrangement that includes a complete exercise room, bedrooms, a fantastic room, a kitchen and a dorm-like room for the younger kids to sleep in if they are at full capability.
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The plantation’s heyday was from the 1850s to the 1880s, therefore Candace used that time period as the guideline for furnishing the house. “My client did not want to have the home to turn into a museum, but as we worked collectively choosing furnishings she became increasingly more interested in placing proper period pieces,” she clarifies. “I talked her into sticking with American antiques, which are exactly what were likely used in the house and will hold their worth.”
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Thanks to the HABS photos and descriptions of the ladies’ parlor in family letters, Candace managed to re-create the space with a lot of integrity. Letters mentioned horsehair furniture, the seashell on the table and red roses in the carpeting. Candace found a rug filled with the floral rococo patterns popular during the period of time. A portrait of the owner’s fourth great-grandmother is back in its rightful place.
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Painted rolling shades were a popular feature during the age and were likewise mentioned in descriptions; families integrated them into chambers to help educate their kids about foreign lands. Candace found historical engravings and sent them into a artisan, who painted the scenes on these colors, which depict ancient Greece and Venice.
Among the HABS photos taken in 1936 helped the team re-create the marbelized and stenciled fireplace surround in the ladies’ parlor. HABS was part of the New Deal program, which provided function to photographers, architects and draftsmen surveying America’s historic buildings.
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Strict historical guidelines were loosened a little in what the proprietor describes as the gentlemen’s parlor. While the crimson and gold Gothic revival wool carpet, madras window treatments and light fixtures are appropriate for the time period, the sofa on the left is coated in a more updated leather and hide combination, and the painting is by George Rodrigue, a modern-day New Orleans artist.
“My customer spent a while living in New Orleans and gathered Rodrigue works,” Candace says. “She gave him an old family photograph taken at the plantation and had him re-create it into his distinct style.”
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Extensive restoration work took place in the library, which had been turned into a kitchen sooner or later. The Volzes turned to master carpenter Joe Tongate to reestablish each the original groove and tongue wallboards in the house. The restored room is currently an office.
Throughout the old portion of the home, most of the light fixtures are reproductions, inspired by Cornelius and Hooper lighting catalogs from the period and hand made by Jefferson Art Lighting. The fixture in this room is an original restored Bradley and Hubbard kerosene fixture with reproduction glass globes.
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While the records indicated that extensive floorcloths had been used throughout the halls, the customer wanted to show off the beautifully restored original Bastrop pine floors. Candace took her inspiration from floorcloth patterns from the time period when designing this painted flooring pattern and its Greek-style border. “It was significant to the customer that the grain of the floorboards reveal through,” she says, so they were painted appropriately.
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Upstairs, the bedrooms have ceiling fans. If you look carefully, you may place an HVAC port or two (left corner of the ceiling). These were custom made from coordinating antique pine to coordinate with all the ceiling and wall boards.
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The team analyzed the paint to match the original color.
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A lot of the interior had only 1 coat of paint on it from 1857 until the 1970s. This bedroom had the original paint as well as scribbled notes from 1931 about the number of bales of cotton this year. The team flaked off the loose paint and then maintained what was left with conservator’s coating, which adds a consistent and smooth layer that preserves the historical layer beneath it.
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For contemporary function, a small upstairs bedroom was transformed into two bathrooms.
Before Photo
BEFORE: A poorly constructed shed-like addition existed on the rear of the home; it was separate from the home, not historical and not really worth saving.
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The newest addition has a kind that coordinates with all the historical house; it joins with the main home through a breezeway.
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One enters the new addition by means of this butler’s pantry.
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The newest addition is more contemporary, but the style still requires inspiration from the age, as seen in those light fixtures at the powder room.
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A fantastic room, kitchen and breakfast room occupy this big, open space in the new addition. The chandelier is from Mexico and includes a cactus design.
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The new master suite’s walls have been coated in wallboards inspired by the first home.
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The staircase at the master suite lead until the wife’s office, where one of her beloved George Rodrigue works is exhibited.
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In the master bathroom, the wallboards and light fixture give a nod to the historical part of the home, but the moldings and finishes are more contemporary.
Here is the master program for the additions. The whole process, from the design phase to finished construction, took between five and five years, and the Volzes thoroughly enjoyed the process.
The house has a lot of staying power. It survived the Civil War and the Great Depression, and through construction, a tornado narrowly missed it. Soon after the construction was complete, the owners hailed as a significant forest fire led their way. As they were mourning the almost certain loss of their house, winds abruptly changed and spared it.
“This is an historic residence, but it is also a state-of-the-art home now,” John says. “It’s cutting-edge data and communications systems, insulating material, a geothermal HVAC system, security and video surveillance, and LED lighting which lights up the trees with different settings.” The house adopts family history and provides a superb place for the family to make new memories.