A restored 19th-century home in Texas

By Molly Malsom

Published: Sunday, 04 September 2022 at 12:00 am

It is one thing to take the climate into account when building a house but, in the case of Hiram Butler’s Pecan Nut home, the builder catered for a very specific problem – howling hurricanes from roughly June to November and 38 degree summer temperatures. The house dates from the 1880s and was one of many in what was a ‘frontier’ area, built by German immigrants who came to develop the railways and to connect the interior to the Port of Galveston in Texas.

Some of the men were cabinetmakers, who constructed their houses using wooden stud ‘balloon’ frames that were developed in the 1830s. Inside, they made virtually paper-thin walls with wood-slatted ceilings so that when a big storm hit, as happened in 1900, and many houses blew down, they could simply pull them back up with a block and tackle. ‘The Pecan Nut name came about as we found that the wall voids had been filled with nuts and shells by past generations of squirrels,’ explains Hiram.

A fifth generation Texan from the Rio Grande, Hiram is a greatly respected academic (he is an Adjunct Professor of Visual Arts at Houston’s Rice University) and contemporary art dealer working with big names such as Terrell James, Ellsworth Kelly, Ian Hamilton Finlay and Jasper Johns, to name a few.

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He discovered this magic residential enclave some miles outside the Houston city centre over 25 years ago and, realising he had stumbled upon a gem of a location with great local history, he bought six plots with three derelict houses. One he had to remove as it has burned down, one he gave to a friend (who removed it on a truck) and one he restored for himself.

The roof had fallen in (although, fortunately, the window glass and dado bead-boarding had mostly survived) and the ceilings were a mess. But he saved absolutely everything possible including some of the cypress floors from southern Louisiana and door frames. ‘I moved in without a bathroom. There was just a shower outside and I slept in the book room,’ he says.

For such a modest structure there is a certain pleasing elegance to it: nearly 12ft ceilings, Georgian-style sash windows and typical screened porches at each end. ‘It’s a very happy house,’ says Hiram. ‘Perhaps something to do with having such good proportions and air-flow in the days before air-conditioning. People used to ask if anyone lived here as I owned so little, but my husband Andrew is an antiques dealer, so we’ve gradually collected things,’ explains Hiram.

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Naturally, his personal collection of artworks and photography is judiciously placed throughout the rooms. ‘Most of the things in my house are gifts from artists and several of which (a small Robert Rauschenberg, the Joseph Havel and a Terrell James), were wedding presents,’ says Hiram. ‘We always try to hang objects together that speak to one another formally – somehow there is a sharing of colour, line, shape or form.’

Everything in the house has been chosen with an eye to craft – from the 1870s wheeled Texas daybed (right) in the book room to the wonderfully weathered door by artist Dean Ruck. Mostly of American origin, nothing has been over-restored and the mix of time-worn old pieces with mid-century and a dash of chintz is charming, unpretentious and homely. Hiram’s collection of art is eclectic and sits comfortably in the simple rooms.

This house, set in gardens containing crepe myrtle, magnolias, old nut trees, palms, azalea, jasmine and ginger, against a constant backdrop of birdsong, feels like a miraculous survivor of an earlier age and treacherous weather conditions.

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The unassuming exterior of the cottage, with gardens designed by Hiram.
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The chrome yellow Shaker table in Hiram Butler’s hallway is modern and the photograph above is of Roden Crater by James Turrell. A 19th-century glass dome contains the eggs of game birds, a gift from Hiram’s husband, Andrew. Other items include 1840s cane seat chairs and an early 19th-century blanket box.
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A door by Houston artist Dean Ruck, who uses salvaged building materials for his work, leads from the kitchen to the hall – it is in keeping with Hiram’s spirit of reusing as much as possible in the house.
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A 1920s black basalt tea service by Wedgwood.
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In the living room there’s a neat linen-covered sofa that was found on a street. Above it is a work by Robert Rauschenberg, to the left is a piece by Jasper Johns. The bentwood chairs are 1950s.
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Hiram has packed a good deal of storage into the small kitchen, which he has painted a traditional barn-red colour. The poster above the door was created by Act Up New York for protests in the late 80s/early 90s.
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A lovely 18th-century New England drop-leaf table with original surface paint is paired with Wishbone chairs by Hans J Wegner. The three works by Rauschenberg are titled Autobiography.
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Shaker-style pegs, a wooden chest for storage and a portrait of George Washington by ‘outsider’ artist Ike E Morgan ensure the bathroom feels less utilitarian.
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The chest is a painted faux-bois 1870/80s American piece. Above it hangs a work by Terry Winters.
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Small objects on the table include a pink 1940s feather hat, ancient Egyptian mace heads, a Native American Indian kachina doll and a pre-Angkor Cambodian bust.
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Hiram and Andrew with German short-haired pointer Rebekah.
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In the book room, small works by Agnes Martin sit below a large painting by Kate Shepherd.
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A plain Shaker bed has a cover made of clothing fabric scraps, while groups of prints by conceptual artist Daniel Buren form stripes on the wall. The giant No 5 woodcut is by Jonathan Borofsky. A pair of white floor lamps by Luxo is a practical choice for reading.
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The dark green painted chest in the book room dates from c1780.