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Tour waterfront homes renovated since Ike

By Diana North, Chronicle Correspondent
22-March-2010

This year's Houston Symphony League Bay Area home tour marks its 10th year by showcasing the Hurricane Ike recovery renovations of four waterfront homes in Kemah.

Scheduled for the weekend March 26-28, the event dubbed "A Day by the Bay" includes a pre-tour party and supports the league's music education program in Clear Creek ISD elementary schools.

"There are three large, elegant Galveston Bay houses, but the fourth is a 1960's historic house built by River Oaks architect John Staub," said the league's publicity chair Pat Brackett. "The house has quite a history."

The home - Somerset Estate - is owned by Kemah's former Mayor Bill King, who purchased the Bermudian style home in 1997.

Participating tourists will get up close and personal peeks at all four unique Galveston Bay homes with stunning views of the water. More than 100 volunteer docents will work in shifts to answer questions about each home's history, renovations and furnishings. Lived-in homes reflect the histories, hobbies, travels and decorating style of their occupants, as well.

"It's an honor to tour someone's home," said Elaine Stoermer, co-chair of the event.

Tickets for the tours on Saturday, March 27, or Sunday, March 27, are $20 or $15 in advance. For $75, tour-takers can also attend a pre-tour party on Friday, March 28, at the privately owned mansion on the hill on Seabrook's Todville Road. The pre-tour evening will include wine, heavy hors d' oeuvres and a cake designed by the Arts Alliance of Houston. Music will be provided by CCISD students.

The number of tourists has steadily increased since the tours began-with the exception of last year, largely because of Ike.

"In hindsight we should have cancelled last year since we lost all our houses due to Ike and had to scramble at the last minute," said Brackett.

Most homeowners prefer to maintain their privacy, but King's appreciation of the symphony league and his involvement in the Kemah community led to his decision to include his home in this year's tour.

"Somerset is just a very special place," said King. "It has a long driveway that winds through tunnel of trees that leads to a very beautiful house sitting on Galveston Bay. "We feel fortunate to be able to own it and we enjoy sharing it with as many people as we possibly can."

Within walking distance to the Kemah Boardwalk, Somerset Estate has been available to rent for events including weddings, weekend retreats, family reunions and parties since post-Ike renovations were completed.

The property sits on 2 acres that includes 250 feet of waterfront. The grounds offer an invisible-edge pool with an outdoor fireplace.

It also holds a special place in King's heart.

"I have a personal connection to it because I grew up across the street - I used to cut the grass," said King. "My grandfather was general contractor when Albert Fay built the house."

King also says the house is the only one Staub designed in the Bermudian style that remains. The others have been demolished.

The most extensively remodeled of the four homes, the estate was battered by the wind, water and pilings loosened by Ike. Four feet of water in the main house washed the furniture out to sea and ripped out the bay side wall.

But King says they were able to save the original structure, including Georgia pine floors and red oak appointments. Also saved was the Bermuda Cedar that Fay bought abroad in the 1950s and lashed to his sailboat for the trip home. The home's bookshelves, trim and front door are made of the rare hardwood.

Pilings that acted like "a battering ram on the back of the house" during Ike were cut into 29-inch sections and used as the supporting pedestal on a 10-foot-long glass-topped table in the main dining room.

"That was kind of our revenge for the pilings that tore up the house," said King. "People get a kick out of that."

Event Information

Article on line at: The Houston Chronicle

waterfront homes

Photo by Dana Puddy

Bill King's historic house, Somerset Estate, was built in the 1960's by River Oaks architect John Staub. The other stops on the tour are older, elegant homes.