Texas Architect

Frame/Harper House

PROJECT Frame/Harper House Renovation, Houston
CLIENT Dana Harper
ARCHITECT Stern and Bucek Architects
DESIGN TEAM David C. Bucek, Jr., AIA; William F. Stern, FAIA; Daniel Hall, Henry Kwon
CONTRACTOR Eaves Construction
CONSULTANTS Michael Hardin & Associates (roofing)
PHOTOGRAPHER Hester + Hardaway

Genius sometimes strikes quickly. According to one of those quintessential Texas stories, architect Harwood Taylor designed his residential masterpiece for childhood friend David Frame and his wife Gloria during a flight from Midland to Houston in Frame's private plane in 1958. Frame recently confirmed that story, adding that the only change from the sketches was the omission of translucent marble panels proposed by Taylor to allow more light into the solid-walled front elevations. Taylor and J. Victor Neuhaus III founded Neuhaus & Taylor in 1956. The firm (later renamed 3D/I) is now remembered, if at all, for the blandly efficient office buildings churned out in the 1970s. In the first decade of his career, before he went corporate, Taylor designed a series of remarkable modern suburban houses in Houston that culminated with the Frame House.

The Frame House is exceptional because of the way Taylor developed its section to take advantage of the secluded site in the Memorial area, which slopes steeply down to Buffalo Bayou. As one moves through the house, the cream-colored terrazzo floor starts to descend, first to an intermediate sitting area and then, by way of cantilevered terrazzo steps, to the family room with its 18-foot-tall ceilings and a two-story wall of glass facing the gray-green bayou forest beyond. Landscape architect Fred Buxton designed the plantings that used to hang from numerous baskets and cascade over multi-level terraces alongside the house. Shortly after its completion in July 1960, Charlotte Tapley, the home furnishings editor of the Houston Chronicle, reported how Gloria Frame worked closely with Buxton and "spent six weeks before they moved in May supervising and planting hundreds of plants," so many that she declared "I'd be afraid to total up the number." As Tapley further noted, "Petite brownette [sic] Gloria is a little amazed by her own home."

Taylor's design was recognized immediately for its architectural excellence. In May 1960 it was featured on the Contemporary Arts Association's Modern House Tour IX, it was published extensively in the Houston Chronicle, Houston Post and nationally in House & Garden. In February 1961 the house was featured on the Museum of Natural History Guild's Kitchen Tour. That same year TSA gave the Frame House a merit award for design.

The Frames lived in the house and maintained it in good condition for about 20 years until they sold it to its second owners, who subsequently made many insensitive alterations. They removed the terraced landscaping and painted the entire house white, including its darkstained walnut paneling and load-bearing walls of pink Mexican brick. They filled sunken terrazzo soaking bathtubs in children's and parents' bathrooms with concrete. They removed the lacy, cast-plaster screens separating the living and dining rooms designed by Gloria Frame's father, Joseph Klein, and the unusual turquoise St. Charles steel kitchen cabinets with their little shiny stainless steel legs. In the main living areas they covered over a series of recessed light coves in the ceiling depicted in superb photographs by Ezra Stoller, which were published in House & Garden in September 1961. They also replaced the original copper roof flashing with galvanized steel flashing that had rusted to the point of failure by 2004 when the house's third owner, Dana Harper, persuaded them to sell it.

Harper, an artist and native Houstonian, had been living in New York for several years and was planning to buy a house in Texas to spend more time with his large, extended family. He despaired at the thought of Houston's mostly undistinguished housing stock until a friend told him about a uncompromising, modern "mystery house" languishing on street of banal 1960s-era tract houses. Although the Frame House had been uninhabited for several years prior to Harper's visit, he was immediately taken by it and envisioned its eventual restoration. He commissioned Stern & Bucek Architects to assist in the process after speaking with Hilary Crady, one of the Frame children who had grown up in the house and who had collaborated with the firm during the recent restoration of the Menil House. As with its construction, the restoration of the Frame House was a team effort. Harper also worked closely with contractor Carl Eaves of Eaves Construction who used copies of the original drawings to reconstruct nearly all of the subtle architectural details that had disappeared.

Stern & Bucek brought the technical expertise the architects had gained from their work on the Menil House and other restoration projects. To remove the white paint but not damage the soft brick they used a solvent they first discovered when researching methods to restore similarly delicate surfaces at Rice University's Herzstein Hall. Inside the house, the solvent had to be sprayed on and removed by high-pressure water jets, so they erected barriers to protect surfaces not being treated and to direct the flow of solvent-laden spray from the walls to areas where it could be vacuumed into holding tanks. When the architects began stripping the walnut paneling they discovered after removing the paint, much to their horror, that the wood had been bleached before it was painted and was beyond salvaging. All the walnut paneling the visitor sees in the living areas is new.

Restoration of the roof was similarly laborious. An inappropriately applied commercial roofing membrane was carefully peeled away along with the rusted galvanized steel gravel stops. A new four-ply coal tar built-up roof was installed, which was consistent with what Neuhaus & Taylor had specified in 1958. The original architectural drawings were used to reconstruct the copper flashing pieces. Although the old roof membrane itself was well designed, the provisions for drainage were inadequate for Houston's heavy rains. New, larger scuppers were installed and the existing internal roof drains were cleaned of debris and given new covers to prevent future clogging.

What to do about the gutted kitchen was a vexing question. The architectural drawings and archival photographs clearly showed the configuration of the missing St. Charles steel cabinets. However the company (now called Charlestowne Kitchen and Bath) had long since abandoned both modern design and production in steel. The architects proposed fabricating steel cabinets to match but found the cost prohibitive. Finally, walnutveneer cabinets raised on legs to match the originals were devised as a compromise. Another problem was how to reconcile the old enclosed kitchen layout with Harper's desire not to be separated from guests while cooking for dinner parties. After much debate everyone agreed that they would leave the kitchen open and adapt the new layout as closely as possible to Taylor's design.

One intriguing aspect of this rehabilitation was the sensitivity with which all the team members approached it. Almost every intervention was discussed and examined sometimes to the point of exhaustion before action was taken. This extreme care is apparent to all who visit the finished house.

--Ben Koush works with DMJM Rottet in Houston.