When Dallas architect Frank Welch created this 8,000-square-foot house along Houston’s Buffalo Bayou, the home was on the cutting edge of modernist design. Forty-five years later, under the watchful eyes of native Texans Estela and David Cockrell, what could have become outdated has been overhauled and is enjoying a spectacular second act.
The Cockrells, planning a move from Aspen to Houston, stumbled onto the architectural gem and were at first much more taken with the sprawling, wooded landscape than the inside of the house. “We really loved that it was nestled back,” says Estela, a former litigation attorney who now focuses her time on philanthropy and nonprofits. “Our family has to have that feeling of a connection to nature.”