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Discovery Architectural Antiques & Tiny Texas Houses

Last weekend, on my way to Boerne, Texas, I took a detour off Interstate 10 towards the town of Gonzales.  Located two hours west of Houston and one hour east of San Antonio or Austin, Discovery Architectural Antiques is worth the diversion.  The business has grown to over 140,000 square feet of inventory in 13 buildings around the town.

The starting point is this storefront in downtown Gonzales, which showcases only a fraction of their inventory in four adjoining buildings.

The real excitement for me came when I visited their largest warehouse just six blocks away.

Here, over 5000 doors, 3000 windows, and thousands and thousands of tubs, sinks, brick, clay roofing tile, wood flooring, barn wood, siding, trim, beams, dimensional lumber, beaded wood, ship lap and other construction material quietly await new homes on the 2 1/2 acre site.

I am assuming that these headstones came from a bankrupt monument company or had typos, rather than an actual cemetery.  I plan to use these on a project by turning them face down and stacking them for steps up to a porch... Shh, don't tell my client!

As far as the eye can see in any direction is salvage material.

Floor material.

Trim material.

Industrial carts... and a kitten following me around.

Sign material.

Wood beams.

Entire gables.

A nice vent hood or canopy.

Stuff.

The workshop.

These windows are great for headboards.

Nicely colored shutters.  Maybe I'll do a ceiling or wall like this restaurant.

I don't know what this is, but I think it is upside down.

After walking the entire 140,000 square feet of inventory, I fell in love with this piece.  It is a trolley for a hay lifter and belongs in my home.  Unfortunately, I was told that it is not for sale... probably the only thing NOT for sale there.  If Discovery Architectural Antiques is reading this and would like to reconsider, please CONTACT me!

Well, the two-year drought in central Texas ended the day of my visit and the storms prevented me from visiting Discovery's other venture down the road in Luling called Tiny Texas Houses.  These photos came from their website and Sarah Wilson.

What material isn't purchased may end up in one of these houses in someone's backyard.

I lived in a cabin in my parent's backyard in high school and college, so I can relate to the allure of small spaces as an architecture of relevance versus an architecture of excess.

The Rustic Ranch House.

The Victorian Farm House.

Rustic Farm House on Bear Creek.

Carpenter Victorian Bed and Breakfast in Austin.

Living room.

Bathroom with sleeping loft above.

Rustic Ranch Styled Cabin and the Victorian.

Once in Boerne, I met up with family to support my dad's recently completed 1923 Ford T-Bucket in the Key to the Hills Rod Run.  Best in Show, IMO!

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Check out Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday!

Round Top and Found for the Home

Last week, I made the two hour trek from Houston to Round Top for their semi-annual antique show.  I only did Marburger and Big Red Barn, and all the French, Swedish, and Belgian trends to make my home look like the cover of Veranda magazine were there. The other smaller venues looked to have the typical country primitives from Texas and Mexico for balance.

While architectural antiques were light in attendance this year, one of the more memorable pieces was this fragment in the Found for the Home booth.  The rest of the show only had a small variety of European-style doors and shutters, and for the prices, I'll assume they were based on weight... in ounces.  (The best places for European-style doors and shutters in this region, in terms of price, quality, and selection, are The Bank and Ricca's in New Orleans, or even The Galveston Historical Foundation, where shutters start at $45 a piece.)

On the drive home, my thoughts kept going back to this copper piece and the next day I contacted Ruth Davis and Aaron Rambo, at Found for the Home, to get me more pictures and information.  To my surprise, Aaron was told by another dealer that the piece is from the Woolworth Building in New York City, which completed a restoration a few years back.

This is exciting because the Woolworth Building is one of the oldest—and one of the most famous—skyscrapers in New York City. More than 95 years after its construction, it is still one of the fifty tallest buildings in the United States as well as one of the twenty tallest buildings in New York City. The building is a National Historic Landmark, having been listed in 1966.  Upon completion in 1913, the structure ushered in the Cathedral of Commerce era for skyscrapers, where buildings became the corporate identity for businesses.

Found for the Home has a store in Houston, where all of their finds are beautifully displayed like museum acquisitions.  They are also on 1stDibs, where the following pieces come from.

Mounted Iron Grate

Pair of Hay Feeders

from the Found for the Home website

19th Century Giltwood Fragment

from the Found for the Home website

Heavily Carved Stool

Mounted architectural columns

Capital and Column

Pair of Garden Urns

Carved stone finials

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The following is an article about Found for the Home with great photos from Paper City:

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 I didn't purchase any architectural antiques this trip, but I did find this European axis deer mount at a roadside tent on the way home, which added the finishing touches to my Burmese water buffalo bell collection!

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Check out Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday!