In the 187 years since its founding, Houston has had its fair share of critics in terms of history and culture.
In 2004 Hunter S. Thompson famously leveled what is arguably one of the most famous, if not harshest, critiques of Houston when he said: “Houston is a cruel, crazy town on a filthy river in East Texas with no zoning laws and a culture of sex, money, and violence. It's a shabby, sprawling metropolis ruled by brazen women, crooked cops, and super-rich pansexual cowboys who live by the code of the West — which can mean just about anything you need it to mean, in a pinch.” Twenty years on and two of those things remain true: no zoning and urban sprawl remain part of life in Houston.
The ever growing reverse-migration of suburban dwellers flocking to the city has divided Houstonians into two very distinctive camps — an “us versus them” tug-of-war between historic preservation purists and “you can’t tell me what to do” gentrifiers. But, what if there were some middle ground?
Battle cries of gentrification opponents often go unheard inside the loop. Swathes of properties trade hands from generational landlords to developers, off-market, making it difficult for preservation-minded entities to raise any flags. With a “blink and you’ll miss it” quickness, entire blocks of historic homes disappear into the night with nary an opportunity for opposition, clearing the way for blocks of matchstick-built townhomes to take their place — resulting in what can sometimes be a complete erasure of historic architecture.
A happy accident is what led Minahil Halim and Tom Hickman, of Archive Construction and Bullethoof Homes, respectively, to create a partnership that, quite literally, saves overlooked historic Houston homes from demolition. It’s decidedly unusual to accidentally purchase a historic home, especially in the Heights; but, somehow, Halim did just that. Rightfully terrified at the potential costs and restrictions of updating his historic home, Halim attempted to offload it as soon as possible — no takers. Hickman, an Austin-based contractor at the time, turned down Halim, his childhood pal, several times before finally agreeing to participate in the restoration journey that would cement their partnership and launch a historic preservation project for Houston that seems to have no end in sight.
Archive Construction’s popular Instagram account attracts fellow conservationists, voyeur preservationists, and DIY enthusiasts alike. Halim keeps more than 18,000 followers in awe with frequent posts that range from pre-construction house tours all the way through completion. Frequently revealing layers of vintage wallpapers, Archive keeps a running catalog with samples of each print that they uncover during the restoration process. With so many companies offering wallpaper replicating services, this catalog serves as something for people to reference and enjoy for years and years of vintage inspiration.
Just north of Saint Arnold Brewing Company, the neighborhood known as the Near Northside is getting a sprucing. Going against the grain, Halim currently has five properties he’s restoring to their original grandeur, plus the addition of modern conveniences. Rest assured, original floors, millwork, windows, and the like are all completely restored. In addition to this project, Archive Construction acquired land in Houston’s historic Fifth Ward, relocating several homes to the area and essentially creating a new historic utopia.
The criteria for what qualifies a property as “historic” oftentimes vary from region to region. A fairly universal definition, however, typically “involves considering the age, style, rarity, uniqueness, and association with important events, people, or architectural movements.” Archive’s home salvage projects are typically bungalows, ranging from two to three bedrooms that hover between 900 and 1,500-square-feet. The oldest home in the collection dates back to the 1890s. Salvaged from a lot in EaDo, the company relocated the homes to its Fifth Ward development. Grander private construction and restoration projects in areas like the Heights are what make this labor of love financially possible for Archive.
Areas like EaDo lose historic bungalows as fast as some people lose their car keys, quickly replaced by new construction. Halim offers property owners the safe removal of these homes — for free — to move and restore them to an area in Fifth Ward that he hopes to see become a blueprint for cities facing the same challenges.
I spent an afternoon touring these projects with Halim, learning more about his vision for the future of historic Houston homes and how he plans to keep them out of the hands of developers. Here is what he had to say:
CultureMap: As I recall, your company doesn’t sell your finished projects, but leases them — can you tell me a little bit about that?
Archive Construction/Minahil Halim: That's correct. We purchase, restore, and hold on to all of our homes long term. This is something that we intentionally decided on considering we wanted to ensure the long term care of the homes.
Restoration (when done correctly) is challenging and meticulous. By owning the projects, we can take care of these historic Houston homes the way they should be for the long term. With restoration, a specific set of skilled craftsmen is needed. This has required us to build an in-house team that solely works on our projects. Essentially, we are able to control the quality of skilled work and make sure that experience is what is leading the restoration efforts. It is this same team that manages the properties as well. Ultimately, by purchasing the homes, restoring the homes and managing the homes, we can provide and support the qualified craftsmen to take care of the homes.
CM: Where does your love for this come from?
MH: I’ve always been into housing, and I’ve always been into history. Anything history-related I’ve always been fascinated with, and I really love historic homes. I love connecting with the past. A home is something you can step inside of and see how someone would have lived. It’s the continuity of keeping something going. The thing that always gets me the most is that the older it is, the more excited I get. I get to continue that and be a part of it—the continuum, that’s always it.
CM: Who is your current renter?
MH: Young couples, especially those with dogs. Why spend $3,000 a month on an apartment in the Heights when you can live in a historic home with a yard ($2,700-$2,800) with the same zero maintenance lifestyle? Landscaping maintenance, air filter changes — it’s all inclusive. We take care of everything. We also do whole-home health checks on our properties every six months.
CM: I’m very curious about the land that these homes are being built upon and if it’s grant funded, personally funded, etc.
MH: All of our projects and long term holdings are currently inside the loop — mainly in the historic designated areas but all homes historic in nature. All of our projects are personally funded. We also do work on behalf of clients as we are a full service build firm. Although we don't at the moment, we would do work in other areas of Houston and would not mind traveling if the project met our criteria.
CultureMap: Your company does a lot of historic restoration work for private clients as well. Is that how you can afford to fund these other preservation projects?
MH: Yes. When we hold onto these properties, we get to experiment with things like energy efficiency. We didn’t know what the best solution was to insulate a historic home. It’s kind of like a training ground for us to experiment, and then we are able to apply what we learned to our other projects and then to larger projects. That’s how we know what works.
CM: What are your relationships with local historical societies?
MH: The one we have connected with the most is Preservation Houston. We like to promote stewardship of these homes. Go to other cities, and they are well preserved. Houston is not as old as many of the older cities, so we don’t have appreciation like that here. What really, really hurts is when you see an old home knocked down when it doesn’t have to be. I see it all of the time — video after video.
CM: Do you see yourself as a representative of preservation?
MH: Absolutely! That’s what the genesis of the Instagram account was. We don’t advertise or solicit business — ever. We show people that restoration is attainable. I’ll post something, and 50 people will reply with questions about how and why we did something — especially when we post about windows. But the people who restore our windows: that’s us! I’ll gladly share who does our electrical and plumbing, but everything else, they’re our employees, our artisans.
CM: What are your long term goals with these projects?
MH: Appreciation, really, and keeping historic bungalows out of landfills. Ultimately, I’d like to restore even larger properties — 7,000-square-feet or more — into boutique hotels and other properties that the public can enjoy.
When asked if they plan to stop salvaging historic homes and relocating them, the answer was succinct — absolutely not!
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[Editor's note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]
Courtesy of Archive Construction
Archive Construction is moving historic bungalows to property it owns in Fifth Ward.
