Hoover House Reading Book Reduced

“It was clear to me now, there was nothing wrong with
the house. Not even the weight of a
cow herd had caused it to sag”
In 2009, Tommy was in need of mantles for a restoration
job in town when he remembered the beautiful fireplaces
in the ancient, oversized dogtrot-turned-cow barn he had
visited in the late 1980s. He returned to the property,
finding the mantles long gone. But this time he noted
having entirely missed seeing the most important asset of
the abused old house – that it was remarkably strong and
well built for its age.
Crawling underneath to poke around at the “bones” of
the structure, Tommy saw there was nothing wrong with
the house. “It was clear to me now that not even the
weight of a cow herd had caused it to sag,” he remembers.
He was amazed to find the house still well supported by hand
hewn cedar floor joists, mortised and pegged to heavy perimeter
beams of grayed live oak. Above the floor joists he noted the
undersides of skillfully milled floorboards; wide cuts of long-leaved
pine for the two big front rooms, and cedar planks for the two
rooms behind – so worn by feet and hooves that the knots were
raised. Most of the floor boards measured nearly 20 feet.
No major water nor termite damage was seen. And, when Tommy
peeled back some of the loose exterior siding, all of the pine wall
studs were revealed as straight and tight as ever.
By then the house was slated for demolition by
developers. So the Hoovers bought and had it
moved in two sections to an empty lot they had
purchased at the end of Wilson Street. It was
set to become their tenth Bastrop residence.
They changed the hipped roof over the front
porch to a more stately gable and framed the
once open dogtrot entry for a handsome old
double door with sidelights. To compliment
the symmetry of their house, the Hoovers
erected a tall brick chimney for each of the
two front rooms. They retained the formality
of those large spaces, adding period antiques,
rich leather couches, soft lighting and lush
wall colors.
Bones look perfect, even after 150 years!.
The double fireplace will become the
staircase entrance to the wine cellar.
Beautiful 10ft Tall Doors
after many layers of pint removed