Commercial Projects
The Love Building
The Love Building was built in 1883 by David Love as a place to conduct his mercantile business. A classic example of Victorian architecture, it is a two-story stone building with an ornate metal façade. The building went through some comprehensive renovations in the early 1980’s, but with the passage of time and the hot Texas sun, it was again worn and in need of attention.
The interior received fresh paint and new utilities. The upstairs rooms were converted from offices back to apartments. The kitchen and bathrooms were remodeled with concrete tile and granite counters. Long leaf pine floors were sourced from the old stage of the Austin Municipal Auditorium…. on which Elvis, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, the Police and Bob Marley all played.
The Love Building again has life and is a vibrant part of the landscape of the Georgetown square.
The Doering Building
The Doering building has had a long and varied history. The first structure appears to have been built on this site in 1885, and then through a couple of phased builds was replaced by the current structure in 1895(ish). At varying points, it was a bath house, mercantile, tin shop, flooring business and antiques store. There were almost as many remodels of the interior and exterior of the building. While jointly working with the Main Street Program of the Texas Historic Commission and Georgetown’s historic officers, we found a few historic photos of the structure.
On the interior of the building, our mason patched and fixed “upwards of 1000” holes in the old masonry. New gas, water and wastewater lines brought in some modern conveniences. The bathroom was re-tiled and the old long leaf floors received some much-needed care. Finally, fire suppression was installed, both for the benefit of the building and the surrounding neighbors.
This was a wonderful project that brought back the beauty of this building.