A restored Gibbs cottage in Old Town Port Aransas: white board-and-batten siding, blue-trimmed windows, a star on the gable, and a new cedar deck and stair

Mustang Island, Texas

Historic restoration in Old Town Port Aransas.

Fishing cottages, motor courts and the occasional landmark, brought back with their own materials. What is sound stays; what failed is replaced with something rated for the wind and flood line this coast requires. In business since 2016, building on the island since 2021.

Start a Project See the cottages

What we keep, and what we replace

Who it’s for

People who would rather keep the building.

Nothing in Port Aransas requires you to. That is exactly why the owner’s standard, and the builder’s, is what decides whether Old Town is still there in twenty years.

Old Town owners

A cottage that has been in the family, or in the town, since before the causeway. It leaks, it has never been tied down, and every contractor who looks at it says the same word: teardown.

Motel and motor-court owners

A row of units from the fishing-camp years, still rentable, still standing. The Gibbs Cottages were exactly that. The construction questions are a cottage’s, multiplied by the number of doors.

Buyers of a 1930s–50s cottage

You want the one with the history, not the one that replaces it, and you want to know before closing whether it can be made to meet today’s flood and windstorm rules. It can. We will tell you what that takes.

Developers who want the island’s forms

Not a rendering of a fishing cottage: the pitch, the overhang, the porch depth and the board-and-batten that the real ones have, built the way they were built and rated the way the code now requires.

The stance

The building is the record.

An old building is the only reliable account of how it was made and what the weather has done to it since. Every board we take out and do not put back erases a line of that account, so we take out as little as the building allows, and we do not put back what was never there. A cottage that was plain stays plain. A repair is allowed to look like a repair.

The island has been building for its weather for a century. The Tarpon Inn standing today dates from 1925, when James M. Ellis set dozens of pine poles into 16 to 20 feet of concrete and anchored the roof to them; it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 14, 1979. That is the tradition we are working in: keep the building, and give it something to hold on to.

Gibbs Cottage 8 behind its long cedar deck, restored
Carl Moore

“Everything that was salvageable or usable, that financially did make sense or we could justify, we used.”

“It’s not always an easy thing to do – is to be able to keep the original and make it look nice.”

Carl “Corky” Moore, on the Gibbs Cottages · to the Port Aransas South Jetty, October 2023

Kept & replaced

Before, after, and what did not change.

A finished photograph shows what changed. The register shows what did not, and that is the half a restoration is judged by.

Gibbs Cottage 5 in an early black-and-white photograph: board walls, a small entry hood with a star, striped awnings over the windows and a picket fence Then
Gibbs Cottage 5 today: the same entry hood and star, white board-and-batten walls, blue window trim and a cedar deck screen Today
Gibbs Cottage 5 · N. Alister Street, Old Town · then and today: the same entry hood, the same star

Kept What still works

  • Foundation and roof systemsWhere they are sound, they stay. At the Gibbs Cottages the foundation and roof systems were kept, and so were the original kitchen sinks, according to the Port Aransas South Jetty (October 2023).
  • Roof pitch and overhangsThe proportions that make a cottage read as a fishing cottage. The roof deck and its fastening are another matter, listed opposite.
  • Window proportions and patternThe size and placement of every opening stays. Only the glass and the frame behind it change.
  • Porch depthA porch you can sit on, not a step with a roof. It is the part of the building the street sees most.
  • The interior wood, re-cutAt the Gibbs Cottages the original interior boards were taken down, milled again and put back as floors, ceilings, trim and baseboards, according to the Port Aransas South Jetty (October 2023).
  • The footprint and the rowEach cottage stays on its own footprint, in its own place in the row. The set reads as it did.

Replaced What failed, and with what

  • Rotted sills and platesReplaced in kind, with the framing above them repaired rather than sistered over and hidden.Replaced in kind
  • Undersized or missing tie-downsEngineered connectors from roof to floor to foundation, so uplift has somewhere to go. Most 1930s cottages were never tied down at all.Roof to floor to foundation
  • Corroded fixings316 stainless, or hot-dip galvanized where the engineer allows it. On this coast the nail fails before the board does.316 stainless
  • Non-rated glazingImpact-rated windows in the original proportions. Replacing windows is a Texas Department of Insurance windstorm trigger, so the new ones earn the WPI-8 as well as looking right.Impact-rated · WPI-8
  • The height above the groundWhere the work crosses FEMA’s substantial-improvement line, the whole building comes up to flood code. The restored Gibbs Cottages were raised about four feet, per the South Jetty.Up to flood code
  • Wiring, plumbing and mechanicalTo current code, run where the record allows and hidden where it does not, with the panel and the equipment above the flood line.To current code
  • Failed sidingAt the Gibbs Cottages the siding was replaced in concrete board, per the South Jetty, laid in the board-and-batten pattern the row was built with. It will not rot, and it keeps the look.Concrete board

How it runs

Five stages, and the walls come open in the second.

In a new build the expensive surprises are in the ground. In a restoration they are behind the wall, so we look there before we price anything.

What’s included

From the survey to the record we hand back.

Survey and photographic record
The building opened up and recorded as found, before any decision is made: structure, envelope, fixings, systems, and the flood-zone arithmetic for the work.
Structural repair
Sills, plates, studs, rafters and the connections between them, repaired in kind and tied together into one load path from roof to foundation.
Raising the building
Where the floor has to come up to meet flood code, or you want it out of the flood plain: lifting, new foundation, and the elevation certificate afterward.
Reclaiming and re-milling original timber
The building’s own boards taken down, cleaned, milled and put back as floors, ceilings, trim and casings. Where a building cannot supply enough of itself, locally reclaimed wood makes up the difference.
Period openings that meet windstorm code
Impact-rated windows and doors in the original sizes and patterns, inspected for the WPI-8 as they go in.
Mechanical and electrical to current code
Wiring, plumbing and air conditioning brought to code and mounted above the flood line, run where the building allows.
Documentation and handover
The kept-and-replaced register, the as-found photographs, the certificates, the warranty, and a builder still two miles away when something needs looking at.

Island rules that apply

Are there rules for historic buildings in Port Aransas?

No binding ones. The rules that do bind an old building here are about wind and water, not history, and each leaves you a document.

Port Aransas has no historic district, preservation overlay or design-guideline ordinance. A 2006 historic resources survey named 15 buildings as high priorities for preservation; by June 2024 five of them had been demolished or dismantled, and, as the Port Aransas South Jetty reported, no city ordinance required that they be preserved. What gets kept in Old Town is up to the owner and the builder. The steps below are the rules that do apply.

  1. 01

    Historic guidelines for Old Town

    There is none in force. An ad hoc Old Town Preservation Advisory Board recommended rules for the area, including a 32-foot height limit, in October 2022; the city council did not adopt them. The 2023 comprehensive plan, adopted April 20, 2023, states an aim to maintain the Old Town historical area, which is a goal rather than a regulation. The Port Aransas Preservation and Historical Association, established in 2002, offers voluntary guidance and medallions for older buildings.

    Checked by

    Nobody, by law. The owner and the builder, by choice.

    You keep

    Nothing is required by the city. We hand you our own photographic record of the building as found and as finished, and we will help with a National Register nomination if you want one.

    Sources: Port Aransas South Jetty, June 19, 2024; South Jetty, October 26, 2022

  2. 02

    Windstorm inspections on the envelope

    Replacing windows, entry or garage doors, replacing or significantly repairing the roof, re-siding a significant portion of a wall, and adding a room, deck or patio cover all require a Texas windstorm certificate of compliance. Painting, refinishing, plumbing and electrical repairs, fences and gutters do not. Almost every restoration touches the first list.

    Checked by

    A Texas Department of Insurance windstorm inspector or a Texas-licensed engineer, during the work. TDI has issued every certificate since June 1, 2020.

    You keep

    The WPI-8, or a WPI-8-E for completed work an engineer inspects afterward. Without one, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association may consider the building ineligible for wind and hail cover.

    Source: TWIA, windstorm certification

  3. 03

    The 50 percent line

    Under the National Flood Insurance Program, a building is substantially improved when the cost of the work equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the work, excluding the land. Cross that line and the whole building must be brought to current flood code, which on this island usually means raising it. We run the arithmetic in the survey stage, before drawings.

    Checked by

    The City of Port Aransas floodplain administrator makes the determination.

    You keep

    The administrator’s determination, and if the building is raised, the elevation certificate in step 4.

    Source: FEMA, the 50 percent rule

  4. 04

    Elevation certificate, if the floor comes up

    A raised building has to sit at or above the base flood elevation plus the city’s freeboard. Port Aransas reported one foot of freeboard to the Texas Floodplain Management Association in 2018. The city’s floodplain administrator confirms the current figure for your building.

    Checked by

    A Texas-licensed surveyor, engineer or architect, on FEMA’s elevation certificate form.

    You keep

    The elevation certificate. Your flood insurance premium is priced from it.

  5. 05

    City building permit

    Structural, electrical, plumbing and mechanical work needs a City of Port Aransas building permit and inspections, and the contractor must be registered with the city. Old buildings are not exempt.

    Checked by

    City of Port Aransas Building Department.

    You keep

    The permit and the inspection record.

The cottages

Buildings we have brought back.

The Gibbs Cottages on North Alister Street were built as fishing cottages by Frank Gibbs between 1937 and 1954 and are among the oldest accommodations in Port Aransas, according to the Port Aransas South Jetty (October 2023). There are eight of them, about 450 square feet each, and together they are more than half of our thirteen builds. We started on them in March 2021; each was raised about four feet, reframed to its original layout and finished in its own re-milled wood.

Gibbs Cottage 1 behind its cedar deck screen

Gibbs Cottage 1

Behind its horizontal cedar deck screen, as the row reads from the street. Same footprint, same place in the row; the screen and the stair are the new work you can see.

Gibbs Cottage 2, front gable with deck stair

Gibbs Cottage 2

The front gable and the new deck stair. The window openings kept their size and pattern; the glass and frames behind them are impact-rated, inspected for the WPI-8 as they went in.

Gibbs Cottage 3, front gable and cedar deck

Gibbs Cottage 3

Front gable and cedar deck. The method is the same on every cottage: the layout it was built with, the proportions it was built with, and new work only where the old had failed.

Gibbs Cottage 5 with the star on its gable, palms beside

Gibbs Cottage 5

The star on the gable, palms beside it: the cottage in the photograph at the top of this page. Roof pitch, overhangs and porch depth are the ones it was built with.

Gibbs Cottage 6, three-quarter view with deck screen

Gibbs Cottage 6

Three-quarter view, deck screen and stair. The restored cottages were raised about four feet, per the South Jetty, so the floor now sits above today’s flood line.

Gibbs Cottage 7 between two palms

Gibbs Cottage 7

Between two palms. Inside, the original boards came down, were milled again and went back up as floors, ceilings, trim and baseboards, according to the South Jetty.

Gibbs Cottage 8 with its long cedar deck

Gibbs Cottage 8

The long cedar deck, and the cottage on our homepage. Most 1930s cottages were never tied down; a restoration adds the load path from roof to foundation.

Gibbs Cottage 9 behind its deck screen

Gibbs Cottage 9

Behind its deck screen, with the matching cottages beyond. Each stays on its own footprint, in its own place in the row, so the set reads as it did.

The Gibbs Cottages on the projects page

Materials & craft

The island’s own materials.

The best source of old wood for an old building is the building. At the Gibbs Cottages the interior boards came down, were cleaned and re-milled, and went back up as floors, ceilings, trim and baseboards. Nothing is stained to look old. It is old, and it has already proved it can live in this air.

Where the building cannot supply enough of itself, we use locally reclaimed wood. What has to be new is chosen for salt: 316 stainless fixings rather than 304, and hot-dip galvanizing where the engineer allows it.

The materials we build with

When it is a remodel, not a restoration

An unfurnished cottage entry: reclaimed-pine door surround and window casings, a louvered sliding door, beadboard walls and a pine floor The same cottage furnished: reclaimed pine ceiling, barn-track louvered doors, a sofa and the kitchen table beyond

Cost & timeline

What does restoring a cottage cost, and how long does it take?

Restoration spends money on labor and survey rather than on square footage. The one figure that can double a budget is FEMA’s 50 percent line, because crossing it adds the cost of raising the whole building. How long it takes depends on what the survey finds, so the dates go against the stages once the walls are open.

4 fthow far the Gibbs Cottages were raised

To meet flood code

1937–54when the cottages we restored were built

Gibbs Cottages

50%of the structure’s value: the line where flood code applies to the whole building

FEMA substantial improvement

Cost-plus, with the book open.

You pay what the work actually costs plus a stated fee, and you see every invoice the week it is raised. In a restoration that matters more than anywhere: the surprises are behind walls, and each one becomes a decision you make with the photograph and the price in front of you, not a change order at the end.

How the open book works

Example build Cottage restoration Example view

Cost to date

$412,880

Contract total

$486,000

85% drawn to date

85%

DateVendorCategoryAmount
12 Aug Coastal Lumber Co. Framing package $18,420
09 Aug Gulf Coast Concrete Pilings and caps $24,150
02 Aug Island Glazing Impact-rated windows $31,700
28 Jul Marine Electric Rough-in $9,860
21 Jul Structural Hardware Tie-downs and straps $4,215

Every invoice lands here the week it is raised.

Questions

What owners ask first.

About restoring an older building in Port Aransas, answered plainly.

No binding ones. Port Aransas has no historic district or design-guideline ordinance. A 2006 survey named 15 priority buildings and five have since been demolished legally, according to the Port Aransas South Jetty (June 2024). The 2023 comprehensive plan aims to maintain Old Town, and the Preservation and Historical Association offers voluntary guidance. What gets kept is up to the owner and the builder.

Yes. Replacing windows, doors, roofing or siding triggers a Texas Department of Insurance windstorm inspection and a WPI-8 certificate, so those elements are chosen to look right and rate right. If the repair cost reaches 50 percent of the structure’s market value, FEMA’s substantial-improvement rule requires the whole building brought up to flood code, which usually means raising it. The Gibbs Cottages went through both.

Only if the work crosses the substantial-improvement line, or if you want the building out of the flood plain. The 50 percent test compares the cost of the work with the market value of the structure alone, not the land, and the City of Port Aransas floodplain administrator makes the call. We run that arithmetic in the survey stage, before any drawings, so you know the answer before you commit.

We keep what is sound and what makes the building read as Old Town: the footprint, the roof pitch and overhangs, window proportions, porch depth, and the interior wood, re-milled. We replace what has failed with something that will not fail the same way: rotted sills, undersized tie-downs, corroded fixings, non-rated glazing, and siding that has given up. The register on this page lists both.

First from the building itself. At the Gibbs Cottages the interior wood was taken down, re-cut and used again for floors, ceilings, trim and baseboards, according to the South Jetty. Where a building cannot supply enough, we use locally reclaimed wood. Nothing is stained to look old; it is old.

Yes, and the Gibbs Cottages are a cottage court that rented by the night. The construction side is a cottage’s questions multiplied: each unit’s openings trigger windstorm certification, and shared systems come up to current code. Short-term rental rules are the city’s and they change, so we check the current ordinance for your property in the first stage.

It spends money differently. A restoration pays for labor and careful survey rather than square footage, its surprises are behind walls rather than in the ground, and the one figure that can double a budget is FEMA’s 50 percent line, because crossing it adds the cost of raising the building. We run that number in the survey stage, and under cost-plus every decision after it is an invoice you can see.

Other ways we work

Custom HomesFrom the lot up Remodels & RenovationsThe house you own Storm Repair & ResilienceStanding again, and stronger How We WorkCost-plus, open book
The Port Aransas beach and fishing pier from the air

Start with what is there.

Tell us the building, what it was and what you hope it will be. We will open it up and tell you what we found before we tell you what it costs.

Start a Project Call (361) 210-8601

How the open book works

Example build Custom home · Mustang Island Example View
Contract total
$486,000
Cost to date
$412,880

85% drawn to date

Remaining
$73,120
Open change orders
3

85% drawn to date

$412,880 of $486,000

Where the money has gone

  • Sitework and piles 15.0% $61,930
  • Framing and structure 23.8% $98,450
  • Envelope and roofing 18.0% $74,205
  • Windows and doors 12.8% $52,760
  • Mechanical, electrical, plumbing 14.1% $58,340
  • Interior finishes 10.9% $44,890
  • Permits and engineering 5.4% $22,305

Seven categories, $412,880. Adds up to the cost to date above.

Stage

  1. Conversation
  2. Feasibility
  3. Design
  4. Build
  5. Handover

Next up

Dry-in inspection, then interior finishes. The schedule and every photograph land in the same place as the invoices.

Recent invoices View all

DateVendorCategoryAmount
15 Aug Bayfront Roofing Standing seam roof $27,480
12 Aug Coastal Lumber Co. Framing package $18,420
09 Aug Gulf Coast Concrete Pilings and caps $24,150
06 Aug Mustang Millwork Interior doors and trim $12,640
02 Aug Island Glazing Impact-rated windows $31,700
30 Jul Coastal Plumbing Rough-in and fixtures $15,905
28 Jul Marine Electric Rough-in $9,860
24 Jul Island Insulation Closed-cell foam $8,720
21 Jul Structural Hardware Tie-downs and straps $4,215

Every invoice lands here the week it is raised. The figures on this screen are an illustration, not a real project.