Text Tiffany Adams
Photography Jack Thompson
Styling Walker Wright
When Nadia Palacios first stepped inside this storied home, she felt an almost immediate affinity for the structure. Designed by famed Houston architect Birdsall P. Briscoe, the 1935 Regency-style home had retained much of its original character, from detailed millwork to the wallpaper of its era. However, some of the grandeur had either been erased or eroded over the past century, with prior renovations closing off windows and reworking the floor plan as well as time pressing its mark on decorative features.
Timeless Revival
Timeless Revival
Timeless Revival
Timeless Revival
Timeless Revival
Timeless Revival
“Old houses are beautiful, but most homeowners acknowledge that some things must be modified for modern living,” Palacios says. This couple was eager to add their own seal while being good stewards of their newly acquired property. After seeing Palacios’ work in another home, they were confident she would be able to help them. Since starting her multitiered architecture, design, and landscaping firm, Nadia Palacios Residential Design, the Notre Dame–trained architect had worked exclusively with friends and friends of friends on projects. “It was really a moment of validation for me, because it was the first project I felt like I had gotten on reputation alone,” she says. What’s more, both the clients and Palacios have a penchant for Briscoe’s work, with the pair previously living in a home he designed and Palacios completing a renovation of his former personal home for its new owners.
In terms of modernization, the 11,000-square-foot home lacked a laundry, a mudroom, and a pantry—features the homeowners wanted to incorporate while also expanding the footprint of the tiny kitchen (which was more reflective of life in the ’30s than the way we live today) and reworking the layout of bedrooms and baths upstairs. In the beginning, they imagined it would be necessary to add square footage to achieve all of this, but Palacios said, “Let me sketch. I am certain I can give you what you want within this square footage.” She was right. The only exterior change came in the form of enlarging the kitchen window. Referencing the initial blueprints as well as plans from remodels through the years, she used her pencil and thoughtful eye to formulate a plan, bringing back much of the original layout upstairs and reorganizing the downstairs in a way that allowed for a larger kitchen and the addition of the utilitarian spaces. “It was funny because no square footage was added, but all the rooms felt bigger,” Palacios notes.
As philanthropic empty nesters who enjoy fashion, art, and—yes—architecture, the pair were as invested in the project as their team, poring over details, bringing suggestions, and marveling at pieces of the home’s past life that were able to be resurrected. Three rooms remained intact from the original build: the living room, the dining room, and entry. These, along with every other space, were also redecorated and furnished. “My focus is always first and foremost on architecture, but I enjoy collaborating with the interior designers in our office,” Palacios notes.
Several interior finishes draw significance. In the dining room, folklore had it that the wallpaper was a Gracie pattern. Palacios confirmed it with their headquarters and had it restored, bringing in Segreto Finishes to work on portions where the original was missing. In the library, or the “books room,” as Briscoe had designated it on his original plan, the clients liked the idea of a faux bois treatment to cover the walls, some of which were original and some of which had been replicated in the renovation. In what she calls a serendipitous circumstance, the room had been covered in avocado paint, which would need to be scraped away. When the restorers began to peel back the layers of paint, knotty pine was underneath. “We didn’t have to do the faux bois because we had the real bois,” Palacios says with a smile. Detailed treatments such as these are paired with personal antiques and art as well as modern lighting and accessories that keep the spaces current.
“It was a challenge because this is a known house on a short street, and I wanted to be a steward for it,” Palacios says. “I think we really did the home justice and gave it life for the next century.”
