Heights Victorian Home-Renovation & Expansion

Filed in Houston Heights Homes for Sale by on September 28, 2012

Heights Victorian Home Renovation

January 2014 Update: This house turned out so well that HDT is in the middle of remodeling two other homes, 1845 Harvard AND 1539 Rutland

HDT Builders is renovating and expanding a big home at 825 Harvard St. When complete, it will be a two story 2729 SF on a 6600 SF lot. This Victorian renovation will be a first for Dee and Dave. They’ve built 6 new homes in Houston Heights, all Craftsman inspired.

Heights Victorian Renovation Heights Renovation by HDT Builders

This home will have many “firsts”. It will be their first renovation (it’s something Dee has wanted to do for a long time-might as well do it big, right?); their first Victorian house (their previous new-construction homes were all Craftsman-inspired); and probably the most frustrating, their first project in a Historic district. This is in the Houston Heights Historic District South. Dee has shared with me some of her experiences before the historic board, but mainly she clenches her jaw when asked about it. I guess I’ll have to attend them myself.

It’s too early to set a price on the house. The addition to the back of the house is framed, as is the garage. You can see the basic layout from the floor plan, but too early to know all of the costs. The plan, like HDT’s last homes, is a collaboration between HDT and Creole Design.

There are a lot of sub-types of Victorian homes. The most often thought of is the Queen Anne style. These typically had towers, turrets and rounded porches with lots of trim.

A simpler, later style was the Folk Victorian. It’s most common features are Square or L-shape, brackets under the eaves, front gable. The roof may not be as steeply pitched as the Queen Anne, but it’s still pretty steep (I wouldn’t want to walk on it) and often pyramid shaped. The introduction of mass production though allowed lots of spindles and jig saw cut trim.

This is HDT’s house…the Folk Victorian. I did not realize that I hadn’t written about these before. I’ll add more posts on this later.

I tried to include a HAR.com search for Victorian homes here, but it didn’t work. Only about a third of the homes listed as Victorian style actually were. Most were Craftsman style homes, or some concoction of new construction “called” Victorian. More on this later.

If you like Victorian homes Houston Heights Homes is where to look. If you prefer Craftsman style, check out Woodland Heights Homes, where I live.

For more information on the Heights/Greater Heights please see:

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