Hobby House

This two-story Tudor-Revival style house was originally designed by Harry D. Payne, FAIA for the Old Braeswood Corporation in 1929 and was home to Governor William P. Hobby Sr., Secretary Oveta Culp Hobby and their children until 1948. Committed to honoring the property’s history, the current owners wished to revive this family house with the comfortable elegance it had possessed and to adapt it to meet their current needs. GSMA was asked to stabilize and restore the structure and gardens and to replace a prior addition containing a small service kitchen with a sensitive new addition comprising a larger kitchen, utility spaces and wine room. The careful siting of the addition preserves the quality of natural light in the existing spaces and focuses views on the historic house and garden while minimizing the physical impact of the addition on the historic structure.