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Variety
GALVESTON'S
SECOND OLDEST RESIDENCE RECEIVES COMPLETE INTERIOR UPDATE BY 12 GULF COAST
INTERIOR DESIGN TEAMS
by Una Gourlay
The 169-year-old Samuel May Williams House, the second oldest residential
dwelling in Galveston, will find itself in a new role this spring: a
showhouse for area designers who have volunteered to make over the interior
of the house in an up-to-date but historically sensitive style.
The Williams House will serve as the Spring Designer Showhouse community
service project of the Texas Gulf Coast Chapter of the American Society of
Interior Designers (ASID). The results will be unveiled on Friday, May 2 at
First Impression: A Preview Evening Tour, which opens Galveston Historical
Foundation's 34th Annual Historic Homes Tour. The house will be open to the
public on weekends through May 25, including the two weekends of the Homes
Tour.
"This program is part of a creative new approach to historic preservation at
a time when house-museums nationwide are finding it hard to sustain
themselves on visitor admissions alone," said Dwayne Jones, executive
director of Galveston Historical Foundation (GHF), which saved the house in
1954 and operated it as a house museum until last year.
"We've recruited an amazingly talented group of people around this project,"
said Tom Schwenk, GHF vice-president and member of ASID, who first proposed
the idea to each organization. "Each room will express an individual design
vision, but recurring colors and fabrics--and a respect for the long and
illustrious history of the house--will see that it ends up a cohesive
whole."
"It's been exciting to see," Schwenk said, "and I really think we're doing
right by this historic property. We're bringing it to a level of maintenance
and finish that, frankly, we could never afford to do while it served as a
house museum. The house is coming to life again. It's beginning to feel like
a home-like what it was built to be."
The 12 participating design teams, each responsible for a single room or
area of the house, are providing their services free of charge and have
arranged for donations of the materials, furniture and fixtures they
required.
"The designers jumped at the chance to volunteer for this project," said
Schwenk. "ASID has done a spring and fall designer showhouse for years, but
for the last 21 years they have been brand-new custom-built homes. The
possibilities and challenges of working with a historic-and very old-house
turned out to be a real draw."
GHF has invested in structural repairs to the house, and will collect the
admission charged during the month that the new designs are on display. At
the end of that time, the furniture used in the showhouse will be sold or
returned, but the kitchen and bath fixtures will remain.
"The result will be that for the first time in well over half a century, the
Williams House will be a fully functional and livable residence," said
Jones. "That will open up far more options for its future sustainability."
The house, architecturally a combination of Gulf Coast and New England
traditions, was built in 1839 for City of Galveston co-founder and founder
of the Texas Navy, Samuel May Williams, his wife Clara, and their large
family. Threatened with demolition in 1954, the house served as the catalyst
for GHF's incorporation as a historic preservation organization, and was the
foundation's first purchase and restoration project.
"I can hardly overemphasize the importance of this house," said Jones, "not
only to Galveston and Texas history, but to the history and affections of
our organization. The house inspired a generation of active, public-spirited
Galvestonians to found what has grown into the largest local historic
preservation group in the nation-an organization that has had a profound
effect on our community."
Citing a steady decline in visitation and revenues, however, the board of
directors of GHF voted in September of 2007 to close the house at 3601
Avenue P as a tourist attraction and to seek an alternative means of
insuring its continued survival and integrity.
"Discussions continue as to the future of the house," said Jones. "We might
lease it to a 'resident curator,' who would be responsible for the
maintenance and historic integrity of the house. Or it may find use as a GHF
residence, available to visiting scholars or even staff. Whatever course we
take, the Williams House's turn as an ASID Designers Showhouse puts us in a
much better position to make a good choice."
The Williams House will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays and
Sundays during the Homes Tour, May 3, 4, 10 and 11, and from noon to 4 p.m.
the following two weekends. Admission is $15, or may be packaged with an
advance Historic Homes Tour ticket for $10 over the advance Homes Tour price
of $20. After May 3, the package will be $35. Groups of 20 or more may tour
the house by special arrangement during weekdays in May.
GHF's Historic Homes Tour will take place on May 3 and 4, and May 10 and 11.
Ticket prices are $20 in advance and $25 beginning May 3. GHF members and
groups of 20 or more are offered the discount prices of $15 for the Homes
Tour and $25 for the combined Homes Tour and Designer Showhouse. (Member
tickets available at GHF headquarters only.)
The first public viewing of the Showhouse will be on Friday evening, May 2,
during the kickoff event of the Historic Homes Tour, "First Impression: An
Evening Preview." Five properties will be open from 5:30 to 9 p.m.,
including the Victorian masterpiece, the Bishop' Palace, where wine and
light hors d'oeuvres will be served, and the Williams House. Tickets are
$60, and include a ticket to the Homes Tour.
History Redesigned
"History Redesigned," a special luncheon/ lecture/tour, will provide a
behind-the-scenes view of the ASID Williams House project. A reception with
the designers begins at noon, May 9, at the Tremont House, 2300 Ship's
Mechanic Row followed by lunch and a talk. The designers will discuss the
process of converting a traditional house museum into a single family
dwelling for modern living. Following lunch, guests will be shuttled by
motor coach to the Williams House for dessert and a private tour of the
showhouse. Tickets to this special event are $45 per person.
For full information about Galveston Historic Homes Tour, or to order
tickets, see www.galvestonhistory.org, or call 1-877-772-5425. To speak to a
member of the Galveston Historical Foundation staff, call 409-765-7834.
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