For years, photographer Divya Pande and physician Nakul Gupta would take walks in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston, admiring the historic homes in Avondale Place, one of the few remaining historic districts adjacent to Houston’s city center. Among the Tudor revival, Prairie, and American four square homes, a seafoam-green Craftsman caught their eye every time. “We always said that property in particular would be our dream house,” recalls Divya.

In 2019, Nakul was casually browsing a local real estate site, and he was thrilled to discover the home listed for sale. However, his excitement deflated when he realized it was listed as a package with three neighboring properties, all being sold as investment rentals. “We thought, we owe it to ourselves to at least inquire. Maybe they’d be willing to sell the home separately,” recalls Nakul. After writing a heartfelt letter to the listing agent, the couple were able to walk the property, which had been converted to multifamily rentals over the years and needed a full gut renovation. “After some back and forth, eventually the listing agent convinced the seller to split up the houses and sell us this one off the end,” says Nakul.

The journey really began once Divya and Nakul got the keys. They enlisted the help of their friend, Heather Rowell, whom Divya first met when they were in architecture school together at Rice University. Together with fellow cofounder Eric Hughes of Houston-based HR Design Department, Rowell began to draw up a plan. “Of course we said yes to taking on the project, even though it was in disrepair,” recalls Rowell. “Divya has an architectural background and great taste, so we knew she would have a good grasp of what would improve the house.”

Before: Entrance

Soon, Divya and Nakul discovered they had acquired a home rich with history. “The house was inhabited by Ross Sterling, former governor of Texas and founder of Humble Oil, which is now Exxon,” explains Rowell. Inside, it was a different story. “There was no electricity, and it was completely boarded up—it was a real rabbit warren,” says Divya.

Because all the historic interior elements had already been altered or removed before the couple bought the house, they had a clean slate to modify the spaces as they saw fit. Outside, neighborhood historic requirements meant they were obliged to keep the home’s profile, so Rowell and Hughes sought to bring it back to its original proportions and materiality.

After: Entrance

Removing the seafoam-green vinyl, which had been added over time, revealed the original pine wood siding underneath, which the team painted a fresh white. “We actually ended up rebuilding the entire porch,” explains Hughes, as the slab had been extended beyond the drip line at some point and was failing. “Looking at the old Sanborn maps of the neighborhood, we were able to confirm the original location of the porch, then rebuild it from there.”

The team also made an early decision to relocate the front door as part of a larger strategy to improve circulation inside. While the original entrance opened to a formal entrance foyer, shifting it to the left allowed the foyer to transform into a formal dining room. “We thought about what the original idea of living might have been for the home, and positioned the more formal and public rooms near the front entry,” explains Hughes. Now, the front door opens to a formal living room, bookended by the dining room and a library.

Before: Interior

Inside, a series of renovations over the years left the home subdivided into multiple apartments, and the original finishes had been destroyed. Rowell and Hughes sought to bring the interior back to its original charm, but with a restrained palette. “The interior was something of a blank slate,” says Hughes. “Divya and I talked about designing a level of ornamentation that was period to the house, but expressing it through texture.”

After: Interior

The result is a palette of white with various textures articulated through detailing like molding, door and window trim, and the original decorative ceiling beams. “Everything is a riff on a traditional detail, but tweaked in a modern way,” explains Hughes.

The team moved a fireplace in the living room to the library, creating more functional space in both rooms. They also converted the room behind the living room to a family room, with a new small terrace extending beyond French doors. This outdoor area can also be accessed from the library, which is one of Divya and Nakul’s favorite spaces. “When we first moved in, we’d spend every evening hanging out in the library in front of the fireplace,” says Divya.

Before: Stairwell

One of the biggest changes had to do with the circulation path. “The structure of the stair was really strange,” recalls Rowell. “It was very circuitous and took up a lot of space. Creating a new organizational axis was one of the big moves we made.”

Whereas the original stair meandered back and forth with multiple landings, the redesign centralized and simplified the stair and relocated the ground-floor landing to a more central location, which has the added benefit of cordoning off the original foyer so it can function as a formal dining room.

The new stairwell also helps bring daylight to the core of the home. “I’m a photographer, so I was specific with Heather and Eric that I wanted to be able to photograph in any space of the house,” says Divya. “Light and materiality were huge driving factors for us.”

After: Stairwell

Accordingly, the stairwell is capped by a new skylight that pulls daylight through both floors. “Moving the stair brought all circulation back to the central core,” says Rowell. “We also knew we wanted to bring in more light to the house as a whole, so introducing a vertical light well above the stair allowed us to draw daylight down into the darkest space of the home.”

The light well is framed by a geometric wood screen painted white, which introduces a modern touch to the design. “The screen helps bring a level of texture that doesn’t overpower,” says Hughes. Throughout the day, natural light moves through the screen and introduces shadows emphasizing the changing quality of light. “The skylight floods the downstairs,” says Divya. “Now, I find the light in our home endlessly inspiring.”

Before: Detached Garage

The team couldn’t make major changes to the home’s profile due to the neighborhood’s historic requirements, but a standalone garage behind the house was exempt as it wasn’t original. “We know from the Sanborn maps there was originally a carriage house on the site of the garage, but it was much smaller,” says Hughes.

Divya and Nakul set their sights on the garage for their respective workspaces, but soon found that the structure needed major upgrades. “It was in bad shape,” says Hughes. After several conversations with contractors about what it would take to save the building, which had sunk several inches below ground level, Divya and Nakul decided to create a new structure in the garage’s footprint.

After: Studio

The new standalone structure holds Divya’s photography studio on the top floor, with a workspace for Nakul below. “In addition to being a physician, Nakul loves cars and has worked on them since he was a kid,” Divya says. “It was important to retain a garage space for him.”

Divya’s workspace includes a small kitchenette and bathroom. “I was very specific about how the photo studio needed to function, particularly with the light,” says Divya. A light well and splayed ceiling help draw in sunshine from the south, washing the space with natural light throughout the day. “I was using this as a photo studio within weeks of moving in,” recalls Divya. “It functions super well—it’s my morning-to-night workspace.”

Now, both Divya and Nakul can retreat to their personal workspaces, but they also enjoy spending time together and hosting friends and family in the main house. “My favorite thing about our house is the timelessness of the design,” says Nakul. “It brings the tempo down to a certain level of calm and peace, which I appreciate.” Divya agrees. “It brings me so much joy seeing how the light changes in every room during different times of day and over the seasons. I find the spaces simply enchanting.”

More Before & After stories:

Once a Dingy Garage, This Charming Casita Is a Love Letter to Texas

A Designer Turns Her Tiny Guest Cottage Into a Lab for Big Ideas

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: HR Design Department / @hrdesigndept

Contractor: Park Lane Builders

Structural Engineer: Santee Engineering

Landscape Design: XO Design Group/@xodesigngroup

Building Performance Consultant: Toner Home Matters

Plaster Application: Textural Finishes

Photography: Divya Pande / @divya_pande

Photoshoot Consulting & Styling: Lambrakos Studio, Evelyn Uzcategui, and floral styling by Elizabeth Miller of The Petaler.

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Before & After: A Houston Photographer Casts New Light on a Historic Craftsman