Avondale East & West

Defining Features

This Historic District Profile was developed to help property owners. It explains the typical features of buildings found in Avondale East. This can be helpful when you are planning a project that would change your home’s exterior.

Many houses in Avondale East were designed by architects and custom-built for their original owners. That makes each house unique. It also means that each part of the house is important to the overall design.

Historic District designations are used to maintain the character of a neighborhood. Once an Historic District is created, certain rules apply to the entire neighborhood. These rules require that changes to properties in the District must be appropriate. In other words, the historic character of the property must stay the same.

Exterior changes must be approved in advance. The Planning Department can help with this process. If the project is approved, the property owner receives a Certificate of Appropriateness. In many Houston neighborhoods, deed restrictions require that the neighborhood civic association also approve changes to a property. The civic association’s regulations and standards may differ from those of the City. The information shown here refers only to City requirements. Property owners should check with their neighborhood association before beginning any project.

When planning a building project within the Avondale East Historic District, please refer to this chart. It shows which building elements are compatible and which are not. Definitions of common architectural terms can be found in the glossary.

	Compatible	Incompatible
Foundation	Raised pier and beam	Slab on grade
Front Porch	Front porch At least 50% of building width (usually full-width) At least 5 feet deep May wrap around house Fluted classical columns Ionic or Corinthian capitals Squared/tapered porch supports (Craftsman) Brick porch support bases (Craftsman)	No porch or small porch Turned porch supports (Queen Anne)
Roof	Gable, hip, or hybrid roof shapes Medium or low pitch Gable ornamentation Wide boxed eave overhang or open eave overhang with exposed rafter tails Dormers Composition shingles Dentils or classical eave moldings Cupolas or towers Slate or tile roof	Shed, flat, gambrel or mansard roof shapes Steep pitch
Exterior Wall Cladding	Horizontal lapped, bevel, or drop wood siding Standard patterned brick masonry Patterned or plain rectilinear wood shingles Stucco	Vertical siding Corrugated metal flat modular panels half-timbering or patterned stick work
Front Door	Single door that faces street (door may face side on less than full-width front porches) Double doors Round fanlights Pediments Masonry arches Pilasters Recessed panels Glass lights Sidelights Rectilinear transom, often with a patterned pane	Single door that faces side property line
Windows	Large, vertically proportioned Double-hung, single-hung, or casement Wood or wood clad May group (ribbon) two or three windows in a row Patterned upper panes Pediments above windows Masonry arches Fanlights	Horizontally proportioned Aluminum Large plate glass