Anyone who has ever decided to buy a “fixer upper” in an historically designated neighborhood, with the objective of restoring that property to its original glory, understands the wisdom of the classic physical fitness adage: no pain, no gain! Deciding it’s time to lose a few pounds or gain additional strength requires a commitment to enduring at least a little pain from the process. However, in both cases the end result can be extremely satisfying.
Restoring an older home that’s surrounded by others of a similar vintage renews its charm and can lead to a property of greater value. The challenges – the pain in this exercise – come from the expense of upgrading a home that could have been built a century earlier. Owners must contend, with plumbing and electrical of a bygone era, crumbling interiors and exteriors, sketchy foundations, and all the architectural restrictions intended to preserve a neighborhood’s character.
It is in this context that HGTV co-host and successful builder Calvin LaMont found himself about a year ago, when he bought a home, originally constructed in 1925. It needed, well, a “little” work. How he managed to turn this challenge into a lovely home for his wife and daughter is quite a tale.
What This Means for You — Restoring an historic home takes grit, determination and money – sometimes LOTS of money. It also takes patience to work within the boundaries that were established by architectural experts to ensure the neighborhood retains its original charm. Building materials such as brick, stone, even metal siding can help homeowners restore a home that everyone in the neighborhood can be proud of. To find out how, read on.
For more than 130 years, Acme has manufactured quality clay brick and offered other building materials that meet or exceed the most rigorous criteria for historic preservation. Click here to get some ideas for your restoration project.
For those who were living in 1925, smack dab in the middle of the “Roaring Twenties,” the optimism was palpable. The economy was white hot and nobody could ever imagine what was coming in a few short years, when “The Great Depression” would change everything. Calvin Coolidge was President, the Jazz Age was in full swing, which meant the flappers were flapping, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic novel, “The Great Gatsby” was published and later became a best-seller.
Illustration of “The Fourth Decade: 1921-1931” from the Acme Brick Company Centennial Celebration
In Dallas, beer mogul, Adolphus Busch, who wanted a nice place to stay on his travels through Texas, had built the still-glorious Adolphus Hotel, some 13 years earlier, using brick manufactured by a scrappy young company called Acme Brick, located just up the road from Dallas in Denton.
The Dallas newspaper articles of the day highlighted a new development, north-northeast of downtown. Two brothers, Frank and Fletcher McNeny, purchased, platted, and subdivided 98 acres of the Bennett farm, establishing the “Greenland Hills” development in 1923. This neighborhood came to be characterized by its early 20th-century homes, particularly Tudor-style houses, and because its major streets began with the letter ‘M,’ it became known as the “M Streets.” According to Dallas conservation organization Preservation Dallas, the Green Hills Conservation District was established in 2003 to preserve the neighborhood’s original architecture, including Craftsman bungalows, Colonial, and Tudor revival houses.
When the two brothers, Calvin and Chris LaMont, left New Jersey after completing college at Lehigh, they came to Dallas with $4,000 between them. They knew they wanted to start their own business, but needless to say, this was not a lot of capital to get started.
After starting a janitorial supply and floor cleaning company in 2010, they began a small residential construction company in 2013 and began flipping houses. After 12 years in the construction business, the two brothers own more than 25 residential lots in “Big D,” manage a thriving residential construction company and have their own HGTV home improvement show – “Buy It or Build It.”
Calvin and Chris LaMont, hosts HGTV’s of “Buy It or Build It“
After building houses on Vanderbilt and Belmont Avenues during 2017 and 2018, Calvin discovered a home on Vanderbilt Avenue in the “M Streets” that was badly in need of repair.
“When we were researching neighborhoods in Dallas, we loved the close proximity to downtown Dallas with its entertainment, museums and restaurants that the M Streets offered,” Calvin said. “Since we have a young daughter, we also appreciated the quality schools that serve the area.
“I just knew this property was special,” Calvin said. “Unfortunately, it was also a mess.”
This is where the story gets especially interesting. Who in their right mind invests in a fixer-upper in a historic neighborhood where strict regulations abound? Someone who is a glutton for punishment. That’s who.
After more than a dozen years in the residential construction industry, the LaMont brothers had developed a business relationship with Acme Brick. This proved to be invaluable when it came time to restore the home on Vanderbilt Avenue.
“Because of Acme’s vast inventory, we were able to find exactly what our clients wanted, from colors to styles of brick,” Calvin said. “This has been critical to our success with our company. If we could visualize it, they could supply it. It was no surprise that they could do the same thing for my fixer upper.”
BEFORE: After 100-years, this Tudor-style home needed some love.
AFTER: A new brick facade and careful attention to detail brought it up-to-date while retaining its original charm.
When gaining approval from an historical commission for the restoration of a home, it’s all about the details. Anyone who has ever wanted to change any part of the exterior of an historically designated home – including paint or brick color – knows there are strict criteria to be met that are aligned with the original colors that were available a century earlier.
As Calvin LaMont soon found out, these criteria included the colors of the brick for the home.
“Our company has completed many restorations and even some new construction projects (which are incredibly challenging) in several of the historical districts of Dallas, including Munger Place, Junius Heights and the M Streets. So, we were aware of the importance of choosing exterior aesthetics that were historically accurate.
“Once we had a good idea of how we wanted this restored home to ‘look,’ our sales representative at Acme, Sean Webb, played a crucial role in helping us to curate a hue of brick that was accurate for 1925 in Dallas. He rolled up his sleeves and found options that our entire design and construction team felt good about, and (more importantly) the historical commission loved.”
Mason laying inset herringbone pattern on the exterior of fireplace bump-out.
For the record, three colors of exterior Acme brick passed the historical muster for the M Streets in the mid-1920s: French Vanilla Light, French Vanilla Medium, and Alluvial Light.
In addition to the classic brick facade, the LaMont restoration project included some other Acme products. One cladding product for this historic home has the look and feel of wood, but the durability of metal. It is MAC Metal Architectural Steel Siding.
“MAC Metal is an amazing product,” Calvin said. “It is virtually indestructible! It’s manufactured from steel but has a wood grain look. This means it is perfect for withstanding the heat and cold of Texas weather. We used this dark grain siding on the ceiling of our front and backyard patios. I’m not exaggerating when I say this is a stunning look!”
The LaMont brothers weren’t done yet. They wanted to ensure the interior design was also accurate for the 1925 period.
“We also found some large format tile for the bathroom and Linea 2×20 tile for the backsplash,” Calvin said. “These tiles look great in a restored home, and the quality is second-to-none. They are also historically accurate, since products such as subway tile were first introduced in the mid-1920s.”
Taking on the restoration of a structure that was built back in the “good old days,” when building codes, construction materials and engineering techniques were completely different, is not for the faint-hearted. However, the financial and emotional ROI is worth the effort for many.
Calvin LaMont and family in front of their restored home. Photo credit: April Barnes Photography
According to Calvin LaMont, “Since we were the general contractors, we saved some money on construction. However, we invested about $500,000 in the land and the basic structure and another $200,000 in the architectural and build-out. Since completion we’ve had estimates that the home is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.4 million. I think part of the reason for this increase in value is due to the livability of a historic neighborhood. It’s a better quality of life because there is less population density and random annoyances that can occur from poor urban planning.
“Without restrictions on the appearances of homes and yards, that are based on sound architectural criteria, historic neighborhoods would likely cease to exist. This would have the effect of encouraging apartments and condos instead of single-family homes. While there is nothing wrong with a multi-family living environment, how you feel about this depends on your life stage and tolerance for high-density living.
“For many families and individuals, a quiet walkable neighborhood, which is near good schools, entertainment and recreation and composed of others who have pride in their living space, is preferable to other, more densely packed neighborhoods and haphazard retail development.
“That’s why we’re happy to live in our little 1925 fixer-upper in the M Streets historic district,” he concluded.
