BrookshireMatt Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 I recently bought a home. Last night talking to some local families they let me know the home was designed by Wylie Vale (not who I had previously thought). After googling Wylie's name I discovered this site -- and a picture of my home on the "Brief History of Wylie Vale" sticky above. I was quite surprised. It is the last home listed there, called the "Short House" -- and just for everyone's information. It was built in 1955 for Richard Woods a local rice farmer, his family is one of the actively farming families. As most of you know, a lot of the homes in the Brookshire-Katy area which were built by Vale are all from related families, who were mostly rice farmers. The Jordan home for instance (on Woods Road) is from a closely related family (to the Woods, shockingly). In any case, I love the home. Before we moved in a lot of updating was done. About 1/2 of the wood floors are still exposed (the remainder under carpet) what is exposed is in great shape. We removed the (original?) stove and cooktop and replaced. It still has the original kitchen pink tile. The only major project left is for me to painstakingly strip, clean, de-rust, prime, glaze and paint the exterior steel and there is a lot. 125 panes of glass and they are not small. In any case, if anyone has questions, I'd be happy to answer. But, I'm much more interested in learning from similar homeowners. I asked my wife to contact Mr. Vale to see if the original plans were available, those would be a huge help especially since much of the attic is totally inaccessible. The rear elevation to the house is quite nice. I'll attach a picture if I can figure it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Welome to HAIF, BrookshireMatt, and glad you found the Vale thread here. I'm sure others will be happy to read about your house and maybe have some information to share.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willowisp Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Send me an email to info @ houstonmod . org and I will give you Mr. Vale's email address. I haven't talked to him in almost 2 years so I don't know how his health is these days. In discussing plans he said "they're all in storage somewhere." He was a little vague about the quantity of plans etc he still has. Ben Hill, especially, has researched his work and both of us would enjoy helping you document your restoration. Ben has met several of the owners of his houses and can point you in the right direction in contacting them. I can include him in the emails to the info address. Vale was a prolific architect. It's incredibly sad how much of it is gone now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellz Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 I live in a Wylie Vale and have searched for the possibility of finding the blueprints. Does anyone know if he included them or “hid” then somewhere in the houses? i am waiting for a contractor to remodel the house which was built in 1952. I will be having all of the 33 windows replaced next week, hoping for a huge change in energy efficiency, but not losing the “look” that I love that he designed. I live reading about all of his homes! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 19 hours ago, Shellz said: I live in a Wylie Vale and have searched for the possibility of finding the blueprints. Does anyone know if he included them or “hid” then somewhere in the houses? i am waiting for a contractor to remodel the house which was built in 1952. I will be having all of the 33 windows replaced next week, hoping for a huge change in energy efficiency, but not losing the “look” that I love that he designed. I live reading about all of his homes! The architect of my parents' home put the plans in a tube in the attic crawlspace area. Hopefully your architect did something more reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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