DSW Homes restores Bell House for free
The Daily News
Published March 24, 2012
TEXAS CITY — Vera Gary said she drives by the Bell House, a historic home at the heart of the nationally recognized historic district known as The 1867 Settlement in Texas City, almost every day. But when she drove by earlier this week, she said she had to stop and stare because something seemed different.
Then she realized the porch on the house was gone.
Gary is a great-granddaughter of Calvin Bell, one of the men who brought his family to the community founded by African-American cowboys and former slaves.
Gary has worked to raise the profile of the historic district and of the Bell House, built by her family members in 1887.
When she saw the porch gone and people working on the building, she realized the restoration work on the house had begun.
“I feel very happy because I talked to (Texas City Mayor Matt Doyle) about it, and he assured me that he was going to do his very best to get it as original as he can,” Gary said.
Builders Offer Help
The city originally planned to use Community Development Block Grant funds to repair and restore the exterior of the house at 117 South Bell Drive.
But that plan did not get anywhere, Doyle said. Instead, Doyle said DSW Homes, one of the builders participating in a program that takes federal money and builds new homes to replace those destroyed by Hurricane Ike, stepped in and offered to do the work.
The house is being leveled, parts of the house that were not historic were removed, the porch will be replaced, and a new cedar shake roof will be installed, said Steve Mataro, one of the partners of DSW Homes.
Mataro said he and the other owners of the company, Jim Schumer, Kirk Doss and Scott Walter, were honored to help the community with the project.
While they are giving the outside of the building a face-lift, Mataro said they are being careful to preserve the historical integrity of the house.
He said the company has worked on historic homes before, has a preservation plan and is following historical guidelines as closely as possible.
Preserving The Look
The company spoke with the county historical commission as well as people in the community and family members and collected pictures and first hand details to preserve the historic look of the house, Mataro said.
The house was built from recycled lumber salvaged from rubble after three hurricanes hit the Texas coast in 1886. The posts on the porch came from different places and were each shaped differently. Mataro said the posts are going to be replaced, but the new ones are being custom made to match the originals.
DSW Homes is doing the work, which Mataro said will cost the company about $40,000 and $60,000, free of charge. The work began Monday and should be done in about 45 days, he said.
“It’s great giving back to the community and being able to participate in a part of history,” Mataro said. “As a builder, you cannot ask for anything more than to leave something behind that is long, long lasting.”
Doyle said he really appreciated DSW Homes stepping in and offering to do the work because he wasn’t sure how the city was going to find a way to fix up the Bell House.
“They really helped us solve a problem,” he said.
Concerns About Integrity
Sam Collins III, a member of the board of advisers for the National Trust for Historic Preservation and a member of the Texas Historical Commission’s state board of review, said while he appreciated taht the city and DSW Homes working on the house, he had some concerns.
He said while the house might look pretty when the work was done, he was worried it might not be historically accurate.
“They’re working fast, but I just want to make sure they are doing it correctly as far as keeping the historical integrity of the property,” Collins said.
Gregory Smith, the national register coordinator for the Texas Historical Commission, said the state historical commission does not have oversight of the project. But, he said, the commission was willing to offer advice.
He said, as far as he knew, no one had contacted the state commission about the project. Smith said he couldn’t comment on the work being done since he has not seen it first hand, but he would advocate for a very deliberate path to preservation.
The federal secretary of the interior sets preservation standards Smith said are what the commission recommends be followed.
“They are very conservative in their approach that you repair what you can and replace in kind only when absolutely necessary,” he said.
The city has done great work on other projects, such as the Texas City Museum, the sports complex or the Doyle Convention Center, Collins said. He said he hoped the city would do the same with the Bell House.
“The excellence that you bring to those projects I want you to bring the same excellence to this project,” Collins said.
Collins said he hoped the Bell House, as the oldest house in Texas City, would get the respect it deserved.
Gaining Recognition
“At one time, we thought that we were being overlooked,” Gary said in discussing The Settlement.
She said she felt confident the work on the house would be done well.
As soon as they are able to get inside the house, Gary said she and others in The 1867 Settlement Historical Preservation Committee would work on fixing up the interior and getting it ready for tours.
The second annual Settlement Celebration is planned for Sept. 29, and Gary said she hoped the work would be done by then.
Many people don’t know about the only nationally recognized historical district in the county outside of downtown Galveston, Gary said. But with the attention the Bell House is getting, she said that could be changing.
“I’m very pleased,” Gary said. “I’m just so happy, I don’t know what to do.”
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