A Preservation Catalyst

| Vo l u m e 1 2 0 1 3 8 TEXAS

A Preservation CatalystSaving the 1868 Fulton-Bruhl House in Rockport

Above: Almost 150 years after it was built, the restored historic home welcomes new residents. Photo by Anne Hunt.

By Pam Wheat Stranahan, David J. Murrah, and Anne Bergstrom Hunt

Vo l u m e 1 2 0 1 3 | 9TEXAS

THE FUTURE LOOKED BLEAK for the aging Fulton-Bruhl House in downtown Rockport. Located on a half-acre lot adjacent to an empty commercial building and an abandoned grocery store, the 1868 structure seemed destined for demolition or removal because of its prime location on Rockport’s main business street. Not even the fact that the house had been designated by the Texas His-torical Commission as a Texas Historical Landmark in 1988 seemed to matter. To the rescue came Jeff and Anne Hunt, of Austin, who subsequently purchased, restored, and saved Rockport’s oldest house. On a larger scale, that private pro- ject served as a catalyst to preserve the historical fabric and integrity of an entire downtown block.

Since the Hunt’s acquisition, the Chamber of Com-merce purchased the commercial building adjacent to the house and renovated it to serve as an attractive visitor center and chamber offices. In addition, the abandoned grocery store has a new owner with ambi-tious plans for its adaptive reuse as a movie theater. As a result, the block, which includes the National Regis-ter-listed 1890’s Hoopes House Bed and Breakfast, is now a showcase for the community, and the privately-funded restoration of the Fulton-Bruhl House started the transformation.

History of the House and Its FamiliesBuilt for Judge John Williamson Moses, the Fulton-

Bruhl House was one of the first homes constructed in the new village of Rockport, which began as a cattle shipping port on Aransas Bay. Moses served briefly as a justice of the peace and as the town’s postmaster. In 1872, he sold the property to James C. Fulton, and for more than 130 years, it was the residence of the owner and his descendants.

James Fulton was the grandson of Henry Smith, who was elected the first American governor of Texas in 1835 and later served as Secretary of the Treasury during the Republic of Texas-era. In the late 1830s, Smith began to develop property on the Live Oak Pen-insula, near present-day Rockport. Smith’s daughter, Harriet, married George Ware Fulton in 1840, and the couple had six children. They left Texas in 1846 but returned 22 years later and established their home (now the Fulton Mansion State Historic Site; see side-bar on page 13) in the Rockport area. When their son, James, married Frances Dunlap of Goliad in 1872,

the newlyweds moved into the Fulton-Bruhl House. They purchased the home for $450, with a promissory note for an additional $450 to be paid two years later. The couple raised seven children in the house.

In 1907, James sold the residence for $3,000 to his daughter Harriet and son-in-law Alfred L. Bruhl, a local pharmacist and three-time mayor of Rockport. They had two children, George and Gladys. Hattie Fulton Bruhl died in 1911, and son George passed away a year later. In 1914 Alfred, now a widower, married Mary Harrison, whose father founded Trinity Univer-sity in San Antonio.

Alfred and Hattie’s daughter Gladys Bruhl Gibson lived in the house until her death in 1989. The Gib-son family owned and operated the Lone Star Fish and Oyster Company, which, at that time, had the largest private fishing fleet in the area. In 1996, Gladys’ son, Charles Albert Gibson, a retired New York business-man, returned to Rockport to live in the family home until his death seven years later.

Afterwards, the heirs attempted to find a buyer who would respect the integrity of the house. They gra-ciously allowed representatives of the Fulton Mansion State Historic Site and the Aransas County Histori-cal Society to copy family records and also opened the house to host events. But, as the economic recession deepened after 2008, the owners began to receive of-fers for the land, without consideration for the house. It appeared that the historic home was likely to be moved or demolished. Fortunately, Austinites Jeff and Anne Hunt discovered and purchased the property in August 2009.

| Vo l u m e 1 2 0 1 3 10 TEXAS

Original Design and Historic Restoration of the House

The Fulton-Bruhl House is of Greek Revival design with a simple central hall and symmetrical windows and door openings. The cypress used to build the home was carried down the Mississippi River by barge to New Orleans and then across the Gulf of Mexico by sailing vessels to Rockport. The Florida long-leaf pine boards used for the walls, ceilings, and f loors were secured with square nails. Two original mantels remain above the twin fireplaces that were built equi-distant from the midpoint of the double-pitched roof. Anne Hunt Describes the Restoration Process “Because the house is a Texas Historical Landmark, all work on the exterior had to adhere to mandates set out in The Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Reha-bilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings. The Texas Historical Commission subse-quently reviewed and approved our plans to main-tain the house’s historic appearance while keeping a sensitive eye toward its continued sustainability as a private residence. To help guide us through this mon-umental endeavor, we enlisted the expertise of a resto-ration architect, landscape architect, structural engi-neer, and a local building contractor. I contributed my interior design background to oversee all aspects of the restoration.

Our multi-phased plans for the half-acre property included rehabilitation of the original house and ga-

rage, additions of a period-sympathetic pool, a guest house, and a barn-like structure to serve as an outdoor entertainment space.

Admittedly, our bucket list was rather long. The foun-dation, or lack thereof, was the most glaring problem that had to be addressed immediately. [The] structural engineer found that the original pier-and-beam sys-tem, which relied mostly on cypress tree stumps for sup-port, had gradually failed [during] 140 years and that the house was sitting on grade [at ground level]. When the long-leaf pine floors were removed, there was sand and silt right up to the top of the floor joists in many areas. Our THC-approved foundation plans included raising and leveling the house on a concrete pier-and-beam system, so that it now sits approximately 2-3 feet above ground, allowing the structure to be more promi-nent on the site, with a crawlspace beneath and steps up to the newly raised porches.

The original windows and doors were removed and restored, as well as the 11 sets of cast iron, porcelain, and brass door lockset hardware, the period-style light-ing fixtures, and the three exterior doors. Four mod-ern vinyl-clad windows in the attic were replaced with historically appropriate ones. Every effort was made to save all materials that were removed during the de-construction phase. The two chimneys were taken down, the bricks cleaned and stacked, and then re-built on new concrete foundations. The long-leaf pine flooring throughout the house was carefully removed, stored, re-installed, and refinished.

Vo l u m e 1 2 0 1 3 | 11TEXAS

Other items on our to-do list included a new roof, electrical systems, fire/security systems, plumbing, and [heating and cooling system]. We employed mod-ern energy-saving features such as foam insulation and a high-velocity air conditioning system. The in-terior arrangement of the house stayed very close to the original floor plan. The staircase to the attic room had to be modified because the original risers, treads, and second floor opening were built more in propor-tion to a child’s height and shoe size. The entrance to the hall bath was re-oriented to accommodate the cor-rected stairs, and a small front parlor was converted into the master bathroom. All of the home’s bathrooms have restored claw-foot bathtubs, sinks, and other period-appropriate fixtures. We made a change to the exterior wall of the kitchen and dining room annex, which enabled us to enjoy a 21st-century kitchen layout and two new rear porches. In the end, we graded and landscaped the property and re-created the historic picket fence enclosure using a 1910 photo of the house as a reference.

Work on the house and grounds was completed in Oc-tober 2011. Our ultimate goal was to respect the home’s history, and yet create a warm, comfortable residence for our family that did not feel stiff and museum-like. We love being in Rockport, and the house is already

giving back to us tenfold for the meticulous care and investment we have made in it.”

Hunt also documented the two-year restoration process on her internet blog, “Saving the 1868 Fulton-Bruhl House, Rockport, Texas.” In October 2009, she reflected on her motivation to restore the home:

I’ve always had a deep love for old houses. As a child I dreamed of ‘fixing up,’ ‘saving,’ or ‘rescuing’ one… Maybe it’s just that I admire the love and pride of the craftsmanship that goes into the building of a house like this—the handmade details. Houses aren’t built like this anymore. Too expensive. Too time con-suming… We are taking on this project to save a little piece of Rockport history and perhaps save ourselves... [to] go back in time, slow down, and get away from the modern world… It will be a place where our fam-ily and friends can come together and rejuvenate. This house spoke to us—it needed help. It had such grace and promise.

Looking Toward the FutureTo that end, the Hunts opened the house and grounds

in November of last year for several events, including the annual Christmas Tour of Historic Homes benefit-ting the History Center for Aransas County, a meet-

Opposite: A costumed docent welcomes visitors to the Fulton-Bruhl House during a special event. Photo by History Center for Aransas County. This page, left: A few changes to the original kitchen gave the new owners many modern conveniences; right: Note the belt-driven ceiling fans in this family area of the house. Photos by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and provided by Anne Hunt.

| Vo l u m e 1 2 0 1 3 12 TEXAS

ing of the Rockport Heritage District Association, and numerous informal tours for the community of Rockport-Fulton. Interest in the house has been so great that the family reluctantly had to put a lock on the front gate to remind out-of-town visitors that it is a private residence and not open to the public.

The home’s restoration continues to inspire an ap-preciation for the heritage of this coastal community. As John Jackson, fifth-generation Rockportian, noted: “The early architecture of old Rockport, like the Ful-ton-Bruhl House, is indeed a timeless treasure to be enjoyed by present and future generations. This home exquisitely exhibits the charm and class of that early period of the city’s history. The Hunts have done an amazing job of bringing it back to life, while maintain-ing its original character and feel. It’s obvious that it has been a labor of love.” H

Pam Wheat Stranahan, of Rockport, is vice president of the Friends of the History Center for Aransas County and active with the Texas Archeological Society. David J. Murrah, who now lives in Rockport after retiring from Texas Tech University, is the author of six state history books. Anne Bergstrom Hunt, of Austin, is a life-long preservationist who received an interior de-sign degree from Texas State University.

Owners of historic properties are faced with many preservation decisions, large and small. Anne Hunt told of her experience to find the right shade of white paint for her Fulton home in an entry on her blog, http://1868-rockport.blogspot.com/. This post is re-printed with the permission of the author.

It has finally come down to choosing exterior paint colors for our old house... If the paint store did not have 99,998 colors, I think life would be so much easier. Plus, throw in the fact that the natural and man-made light conditions can change a color’s feel-ings—especially in bright coastal Texas light. I am understandably nervous about making the final, com-plete, perfect, sensible selections...

I googled ‘historical white paint’ and came up with 12,600,000 hits.

I researched [more]. What historic white paint does Martha Stewart like? Well, [giving consideration to] paint selections in the Northeast United States [is similar to] selecting plants for your garden. What looks good and thrives up there in that light and cli-mate does not always work down here in the South...

[To simplify matters and] since there’s a Sherwin Williams paint store 1.2 miles from our house in Rockport, we decided to use their paint. They only have 240 whites...

So, I selected three whites…to be tested in sample areas around the house: a warm white…a cool white, with a tie-breaker in between.

We arrived yesterday on the brightest fall day pos-sible and found [those choices] painted on the south side of the garage and also on the east side... The ones on the south were in the direct blinding sun and impossible to [distinguish].

So, we looked at the east side, and picked the one that had been my first choice off the paint chip card since it’s the warmest of the three. You are going to laugh when you read the color we chose for our beachfront vacation home. It’s called ‘Snowbound’ in a satin finish.

Which White is Right?

Before the restoration, the Fulton-Bruhl House sat at ground level. Photo by Anne Hunt.