This Fredericksburg residence was built in 1906 and is mainly built of Texas limestone. It has been transformed to combine ancient charm with modern style.
The Fredericksburg house was built in 1906 and has recently been remodeled, with southern-style rock musicians on the front porch.
During the renovation process, most of the limestone inner wall covered with stucco and wood panelling seen from the front door was removed.
The living room at the entrance of the front door is located in the historical part of the house.
The formal dining room is located near the front entrance of the historical part of the house.
Details of the formal dining table, which can accommodate 10 people.
From the front door, visitors can see both the historical part of the house in the foreground and the new modern part at the back.
During the renovation process, the doorway from the entrance to the formal dining room on one side and the living room on the other side was enlarged, and limestone lintels were added on it.
There is a large natural gas fireplace in the large room, and the flue is covered with tiles.
A beautiful wooden table adorns the home office of this Fredericksburg residence.
An antique chandelier hangs at the entrance.
Before the renovation, the exterior of the limestone block on the first floor was covered with demolished cement.
This Fredericksburg house was built in 1906 and its exterior shows the limestone blocks used to construct the original structure and the locally produced cement Basse blocks used during the expansion of the second floor in the 1930s.
The modern large room has poured and sealed concrete floors and 18-foot-high penny-notched ceilings, echoing the beaded panels in the historic part of the house.
The large room has many large windows overlooking the courtyard and pool area.
The kitchen is built in the space that used to be the bedroom,
Red accents add color to the kitchen of this Fredericksburg residence.
The master bedroom has a hand-carved four-poster bed.
The bathroom in this Fredericksburg residence has a modern bathtub and a separate shower.
The bathroom in this Fredericksburg residence includes a modern bathtub.
A spiral staircase leads to the second floor bedroom of the attached hotel.
This Fredericksburg residence was built in 1906 and is mainly built of Texas limestone. It has been transformed to combine ancient charm with modern style.
The spacious laundry room has ample storage space and is part of the modernization of the house.
A staircase leads to the underground wine cellar, which was originally built as a root wine cellar.
This wine cellar has a six-foot-high claustrophobic ceiling made of recycled wood.
Decorative wine corkscrews are placed in the cellar of a converted house in Fredericksburg.
This Fredericksburg home combines ancient charms, such as this original door handle, combined with modern style.
Growing up in Fredericksburg, Jan Dwyer has always liked the classic appearance of a Texas Hill country house, including limestone block walls, large front porches, and gable roofs.
At least she loves them from outside.
What she didn't like was the "slimy old Victorian" decoration she often saw in these houses.
Therefore, when she bought a dilapidated two-story stone house that was originally built in 1906 just a few blocks from the main street, she knew that she wanted to compare the old charm of the exterior with the new, mostly modern interior. Combine.
The large modern room contrasts sharply with the historical features of the classic Hill Country house.
To bring her concept into reality, she recruited restoration architect John Klein, designer David Ross and architect Daniel Jenschke.
As a result, she said, “It’s exactly what I wanted, modern and comfortable. Something that looks old but actually isn’t.”
You can best see the mix of old and new from the front hall, where visitors are surrounded by century-old limestone walls, but you can also catch a glimpse of the ultra-modern large room added at the back of the original house.
The homeowner did not want the terrace and the distant view to be obstructed, so the architect designed a cantilever to provide shade without any support columns.
"The way they did it was fantastic," said Dwyer, a retired commercial title company executive. "As soon as you walk into the house, you feel the old and the new.
When the local builder Janschke first saw the house, it had been vacant for about 10 years and it was in a complete mess. The outer wall of the first floor was covered with grout a long time ago, and it must be chiseled away to reveal the beautiful multifaceted limestone block below. Inside, the stone is also covered in plaster and wood panelling from the Brady Bunch era. Upstairs, the front porch was part of the second floor in the 1930s, almost decayed.
This Fredericksburg home has been refurbished and added a backyard.
In addition to renovating the historical part of the old house, Klein's plan also called for a modern wedding to be added to the back. This includes the addition of a large modern room, a new kitchen, an attached two-story hotel and a backyard porch and swimming pool.
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After the completion of the project, the expanded house will have four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms.
Starting from the foyer, on the right is the formal dining room, and on the left is the small living room and home office. Once the narrow 3.5-foot doorway leading to both is widened, the entrance will take on a surprisingly light and airy feel, although those spectacular limestone walls were also discovered during the renovation.
The kitchen of this remodeled Fredericksburg residence includes a modern island with overhangs to make seating easier.
The new oak flooring also blends perfectly with the original 11.5-foot-high bead board ceiling that Jenschke's staff were able to salvage.
Go to the back of the house and enter the large two-story room where the oak floors give way to poured and sealed concrete.
"These days, it's very popular in Hill Country," Jenschke said. "It is easy to keep clean, and its cost is not much higher than most other flooring materials."
The penny slot ceiling of the room places a modern rotating bead on the front of the house, a large gas fireplace dominates the room, and the black tiles are 18 feet high.
There are also many windows that let in sunlight throughout the day, including a wall of glass doors that can be retracted to the covered terrace seating area.
Dwyer wanted unobstructed views of the terrace and the swimming pool in the distance, so Klein designed a cantilever to shade the rest area without any support pillars.
"The way the back door opens completely is great," said Dwyer, who has three adult children. "It allows me to entertain family and friends, which is everything I dream of."
The kitchen adjacent to the large room is brand new, built from the bedroom in the historical part of the house.
The stained wood cabinets on one side of the room contrast sharply with the cream cabinets on the other side. The barn door slid open, revealing a large storage room.
There is an overhang on one side of the central island to make sitting more comfortable. The most important thing is the modern round chandelier. The same style of lighting appeared in several bathrooms in the house.
From the large room, an open staircase surrounds the elevator shaft that was added during the renovation.
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"Jan is from Fredericksburg, this is where she retires," Jenschke said. "She wanted the elevator for convenience."
There are two bedrooms on the second floor, including a fully modern master suite, including a tiled separate shower, bathtub, quartz countertops, walk-in closets and brand new fixtures.
Jenschke said: "We reduced most of this area to columns so that we can rearrange some of the rooms here."
This is the view from the front balcony on the second floor, where the railings and floors must be completely replaced.
The porch on the second floor was in such a bad condition that it had to be completely renovated. For example, the railing spindle has completely rotted.
Jenschke said: "We got the original pattern and produced news that matches here."
They also replaced the rotting pine floor with a composite material that should last for many years, and painted the ceiling in sea foam green, which is the original color according to their research.
"Whenever possible, John Klein likes to restore things to their original state," Jenschke said.
Klein, the co-founder of Fredericksburg-based Stehling Klein Thomas Architects, passed away earlier this year.
Back downstairs, a short passage from a corner of the large room leads to a 1,500-square-foot two-story hotel with two bedrooms and bathrooms, a powder room, laundry room and kitchenette.
"It is connected to the main house, but independent enough so that when people move in, everyone can have their own space," Dwyer said.
A wide porch runs through the length of the hotel and overlooks the backyard swimming pool. There is a spiral staircase at the far end, so guests can enter and exit without passing through the main house.
After removing the cement covering, the limestone blocks were revealed again.
This house hides an interesting secret: the basement built by the original owner serves as the root wine cellar, which is now used as a wine cellar with four coolers for the family to collect Texas wines. Unlike the rest of the house, the underground room has a reclaimed wood ceiling that is only six feet high.
Although it can cause claustrophobia, it is another way for the house to successfully mix the old and the new together.
rmarini@express-news.net | Twitter: @RichardMarini
Richard A. Marini is a special correspondent for the San Antonio Express News. He previously served as an editor and columnist for the newspaper. The Food Journalists Association once awarded him the best food columnist. He is a freelancer in American archaeology, cooking lights, and many other publications. Reader's Digest once sent him to Alaska for a week. He is back.