Steve Quillian thinks the 1920s homes in Port San Antonio’s historic bungalow colony have the best windows ever built.
“These windows were born out of a struggle” for efficiency and durability, said Quillian, a wood window craftsman. “For century-old windows, they are in remarkably good condition.”
Quillian, who led a restoration workshop this week through the city’s Academy of Living Heritage Crafts, said the craft combines woodworking with mechanical and protective finishing work – disciplines used in nearly every facet of the rehabilitation of former Commanding Officers’ houses in the nationally and locally designated Kelly Field Historic. District. The six out of six windows in Building 108, the former home of the base commander, exhibit craftsmanship not fully appreciated today, he said.
“In the golden age of construction, in the 1920s, given all the windows they could have imagined for every house across America, Canada, Mexico, Europe, in which window did they put? This one. They thought it was the best window in the world,” Quillian said.
City officials believe that restoring the windows, used extensively in the design of large one-story bungalows to provide natural light, is a good first step in saving structures that are unlike any other military housing in the city. world and an important connection to San Antonio’s ties to early military aviation.
Kevin Gremillion works on a window of the bungalow colony in the historic Kelly Field neighborhood in San Antonio, Texas on August 23, 2022. The city’s Office of Historic Preservation is working with Port San Antonio to restore the 15 large homes of 1920s bungalows, once used as officers’ quarters. The work begins with repairing the houses’ distinctive windows through the city’s Living Trades Academy, in classes taught by window expert Steve Quillian.
Josie Norris, San Antonio Express-News/Staff PhotographerThe bungalow colony – consisting of 15 houses, nurses’ quarters and several independent garages – seems an anachronism today. It is surrounded by Port San Antonio industrial and office buildings, a privatized former Air Force base, and a 1,900-acre aerospace and technology campus. But the houses were once the center of activity for commanders at Kelly Field after the open lands on the southwest side were chosen as the army’s air base in 1916.
Wood from sturdy crates used to transport World War I biplanes was recycled as building material in the one-story houses – an architectural deviation from the Victorian two-story officers’ quarters at Fort Sam Houston. Today, the city’s Office of Historic Preservation focuses on reuse and recycling while helping to revive the old neighborhood.
The Preservation Office plans to convert a large 1920s garage near the houses into its Material Innovation Center to store an inventory of doors, cabinets, framing materials and other items from local demolitions and renovations . Although many unused items are already being acquired by salvage stores, the city is working to make the reuse process more robust and to keep old wood materials out of a landfill.
On September 8, the city council is due to consider a deconstruction ordinance that would formalize recycling efforts, beginning with city-initiated demolitions ordered by the Building Standards Board. The preservation office is also working on a rescue program to provide “kits” for homeowners to build secondary suites and “pave the way for more affordable housing options,” office director Shanon Shea Miller said. .
His office plans to use one of the bungalows as a “community tool library,” where San Anton residents doing home repairs can look up tools for home improvement projects. It also has a $25,000 grant from the Texas Historical Commission to develop a bungalow preservation plan in coordination with Port San Antonio.
The Bungalow Colony in the historic Kelly Field neighborhood of San Antonio, TX, seen August 23, 2022. The city’s Office of Historic Preservation is working with Port San Antonio to restore the 15 grand 1920s bungalow homes once used as officers’ quarters. The work begins with repairing the houses’ distinctive windows through the city’s Living Trades Academy, in classes taught by window expert Steve Quillian.
Josie Norris, San Antonio Express-News/Staff PhotographerAnyone driving on Robins Drive through the oak-lined, L-shaped neighborhood can see that many once-elegant homes with screened porches and rock columns now have peeling paint, weathered roofs and sagging wood siding. The preservation plan will help the Harbor Authority set funding priorities for interior restoration and finishing work. Although some have suggested that the houses could be restored and rented out as a conference center or for receptions, their end use has not been determined.
Non-profit group Power of Preservation will host their next big fundraiser, a 1940s-themed street party, at the Bungalow Colony on October 27. Profits will help restore old houses and train people in restoration.
“One of the things that I find really interesting about the bungalow colony is that every house is different,” Miller said. “They’re very well built and it’s a great lab for students to learn how to rehabilitate these old houses.”
The city’s trades academy provided 16 apprentices with a 10-week course this year. Quillian, who now teaches his third window workshop at the old air base, said wood windows last longer than vinyl, aluminum or fiberglass units.
Donovan Harris scrapes layers of paint from a window of a bungalow in the historic Kelly Field neighborhood in San Antonio, TX on August 23, 2022. The city’s Office of Historic Preservation is working with Port San Antonio to restore the 15 large, 1920’s single storey houses, once used as officers quarters. The work begins with repairing the houses’ distinctive windows through the city’s Living Trades Academy, in classes taught by window expert Steve Quillian.
Josie Norris, San Antonio Express-News/Staff Photographer“Artisans like us are slowly being driven out. So it is very important that we push back. Because without us, things like this really wouldn’t exist,” he said.
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