This 1893 cottage is typical of working-class homes in the Old Sixth Ward, one of Houston’s most intact 19th-century residential areas. Reflecting its time, the original layout consisted of four modest rooms and a compact kitchen. Kinneymorrow Architecture skillfully expanded the home by adding a separate back house with modern bedrooms and bathrooms, allowing the Victorian cottage to become open, inviting living and entertaining spaces.

Location chair: Kathleen Nuzzo

Woodland Heights is known for bungalows like this one, completed in 1910 with classic Craftsman features including exposed rafter tails, chunky brackets and diamond-paned windows. Although the home was well cared for through the years, remodeling projects had obscured some of its original details. In 2011, Newberry Campa Architects undertook a thoughtful restoration and expansion, revealing historic woodwork and adding complementary elements that honored the home’s architectural heritage.

Location chairs: Patricia Hattenbach and Jim McCallum

The Berthea and Earl Carpenter House, built in 1959 in the residential enclave of Cherokee Place, is a notable example of the low-slung contemporary Ranch style by architect Lucian T. Hood Jr. Hood grouped living and dining areas under a prominent gable with walls of glass opening onto tree-lined Mandell Street, while bedrooms are lined up in a side wing with ribbon windows for privacy. Later alterations respected the original design while updating the house for modern living.

Location chairs: Martin Gollwitzer and Kate McCormick

Architects Hedrick & Gottlieb designed South Main Baptist Church’s current home, which opened in 1930. The sanctuary combines Romanesque and Classical elements with intricately painted plasterwork and stained-glass windows by Texas artist Cecil Lang Casebier. A meticulous restoration in 2018 repaired water-damaged plaster, replaced carpet and tile with a recreation of the original wood flooring, and rebuilt the Art Deco chandeliers with a focus on energy efficiency.

Location chairs: Lin Chong and David Putz

Businesspeople and philanthropists Anna and Clarence Dupree built the Eldorado Ballroom in 1939 as a showcase for blue-chip entertainers, but the ballroom was more than a famed nightspot. The so-called “Home of Happy Feet” hosted dances, parties, talent shows and dinners for decades. The Eldorado closed in the 1970s and Project Row Houses acquired the building in 1999. A restoration that began in 2020 exposed original finishes, re-created large windows overlooking Emancipation Park and refinished the 1930s dance floor.