RAW APPEAL

Hiram Butler has restored his 1880s Texan home with integrity. The look of the interior is time- worn, which acts as a contrast to his contemporary art collections

It is one thing to take the climate into account when building a house but, in the case of Hiram Butler’s Pecan Nut home, the builder catered for a very speci !c problem – howling hurricanes from roughly June to November and 38 degree summer temperatures. The house dates from the 1880s and was one of many in what was a ‘frontier’ area, built by German immigrants who came to develop the railways and to connect the interior to the Port of Galveston in Texas. Some of the men were cabinetmakers, who constructed their houses using wooden stud ‘ balloon’ frames that were developed in the 1830s. Inside, they made virtually paper-thin walls with wood- sla"ed ceilings so that when a big storm hit, as happened in 1900, and many houses blew down, they could simply pull them back up with a block and tackle. ‘ The Pecan Nut name came about as we found that the wall voids had been ! lled with nuts and shells

by past generations of squirrels,’ explains Hiram.

A ! "h generation Texan from the Rio Grande, Hiram is a greatly respected academic (he is an Adjunct Professor of Visual Arts at Houston’s Rice University) and contemporary art dealer working with big names such as Terrell James, Ellsworth Kelly, Ian Hamilton Finlay and Jasper Johns, to name a few. He discovered this magic residential enclave some miles outside the Houston city centre over 25 years ago and, realising he had stumbled upon a gem of a location with great local history, he bought six plots with three derelict houses. One he had to remove as it has burned down, one he gave to a friend (who removed it on a truck) and one he restored for himself.

The roof had fallen in (although, fortunately, the window glass and dado bead-boarding had mostly survived) and the ceilings were a mess. But he saved absolutely everything possible including some of the cypress #oors from southern Louisiana and door frames. ‘ I moved in without a bathroom. There was just a shower outside and I slept in the book room,’ he says. For such a modest structure there is a certain pleasing elegance to it: nearly 12" ceilings, Georgian- style sash windows and typical screened

porches at each end. ‘ It’s a very happy house,’ says Hiram. ‘ Perhaps something to do with having such good proportions and air-!ow in the days before air- conditioning. People used to ask if anyone lived here as I owned so li" le, but my husband Andrew is an antiques dealer, so we’ve gradually collected things,’ explains Hiram.

Naturally, his personal collection of artworks and photography is judiciously placed throughout the rooms. ‘ Most of the things in my house are gi # s from artists and several of which (a small Robert Rauschenberg, the Joseph Havel and a Terrell James), were wedding presents,’ says Hiram. ‘ We always try to hang objects together that speak to one another formally – somehow there is a sharing of colour, line, shape or form.’

Everything in the house has been chosen with an eye to cra # – from the 1870s wheeled Texas daybed (right) in the book room to the wonderfully weathered door by artist Dean Ruck. Mostly of American origin, nothing

has been over-restored and the mix of time-worn old pieces with mid- century and a dash of chintz is charming, unpretentious and homely. Hiram’s collection of art is eclectic and sits comfortably in the simple rooms.

This house, set in gardens containing crepe myrtle, magnolias, old nut trees, palms, azalea, jasmine and ginger, against a constant backdrop of birdsong, feels like a miraculous survivor of an earlier age and treacherous weather conditions.

The chrome yellow Shaker table in Hiram Butler’s hallway is modern and the photograph above is of Roden Crater by James Turrell. A 19th-century glass dome contains the eggs of game birds, a gift from Hiram’s husband, Andrew. Other items include 1840s cane seat chairs and an early 19th-century blanket box. The Owners The Property Hiram Butler is a university professor and contemporary art dealer. He lives here with his husband, Andrew, an antiques dealer. This Texan house, built by a railway worker in the 1880s, has one bedroom and bathroom, kitchen, hall, dining room, living room and book room/library with two screened entrance porches.

CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT A door by Houston artist Dean Ruck, who uses salvaged building materials for his work, leads from the kitchen to the hall – it is in keeping with Hiram’s spirit of reusing as much as possible in the house; a 1920s black basalt tea service by Wedgwood; in the living room there’s a neat linen-covered sofa that was found on a street. Above it is a work by Robert Rauschenberg, to the left is a piece by Jasper Johns. The bentwood chairs are 1950s.

ABOVE A lovely 18th-century New England drop-leaf table with original surface paint is paired with Wishbone chairs by Hans J Wegner. The three works by Rauschenberg are titled Autobiography.LEFT Shaker-style pegs, a wooden chest for storage and a portrait of George Washington by ‘outsider’ artist Ike E Morgan ensure the bathroom feels less utilitarian.

ABOVE A plain Shaker bed has a cover made of clothing fabric scraps, while groups of prints by conceptual artist Daniel Buren form stripes on the wall. The giant No 5 woodcut is by Jonathan Borofsky. A pair of white floor lamps by Luxo is a practical choice for reading. RIGHT The dark green painted chest in the book room dates from c1780. BELOW The unassuming exterior of the cottage, with gardens designed by Hiram.