Woodland Heights

Important Features of Historic Buildings

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

Most homes in the Woodland Heights Historic District feature plenty of large windows. In conjunction with transoms above doors, these windows allow air to circulate. That helped keep houses cool in the years before air conditioning was common. Many homes in the District feature similar architectural details. These include decorated gables, textured shingles or siding, bay windows, and turned or tapered porch supports. Most homes are built on pier-and-beam foundations.

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 Woodland Heights 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 6 feet deep May wrap around house Turned porch supports (Queen Anne) Squared/tapered porch supports (Craftsman) Brick porch support bases (Craftsman)	No porch or small porch Fluted classical columns Ionic or Corinthian capitals
Roof	Gable, hip, or hybrid roof shapes Low pitch Gable ornamentation Wide boxed eave overhang or open eave overhang with exposed rafter tails Dormers Composition shingles	Shed, flat, gambrel or mansard roof shapes Steep pitch Dentils or classical eave moldings Cupolas or towers Slate or tile roof
Exterior Wall Cladding	Horizontal lapped, bevel, or drop wood siding Standard modular brick masonry Patterned or plain rectilinear wood shingles	Vertical siding; corrugated metal stucco flat modular panels half-timbering or patterned stick work non-standard brick masonry
Front Door	Single door that faces street (door may face side on less than full-width front porches) Recessed panels Glass lights Sidelights Rectilinear transom, often with a patterned pane	Single door that faces side property line Double doors Round fanlights Pediments Masonry arches Pilasters
Windows	Large, vertically proportioned Double-hung, single-hung, or casement Wood or wood clad May have group (ribbon) of two or three windows in a row Patterned upper panes	Horizontally proportioned Aluminum Pediments above windows Masonry arches Large plate glass Fanlights Fixed windows