After being abandoned for 40 years, a post-Civil War stone structure near Decatur, TX, received a new lease on life after a thoughtful restoration project led by Stephen Chambers, AIA, NCARB, Principal of Stephen B. Chambers Architects, Inc., of Dallas, TX.
One of the owners of this historic structure is the grandson of a rancher who took possession of the four-room stone structure a century ago. Chambers and the client developed a plan to adapt the house into a weekend retreat, and one key design goal was to preserve the original architectural integrity of the home. “Our firm and the client developed a plan to adapt the house into a weekend retreat while making minimal architectural interventions that might otherwise compromise the rustic character and detail of this 19th Century Texas treasure,” Chambers explained. “A second building on the site, originally constructed as a stone base for a water storage tank, was converted into bathroom facilities in order to remain close to the historical accuracy of a home in this period of Texas history. One of the things that was important to the owner was that we wouldn’t disturb the existing structure, and that we wouldn’t change it up and make it modern. When we found it, it was in good shape, and had not been ruined by previous remodelings or modernization.”