HOUSTON – (By Cynthia Lescalleet for Realty News Report) – On a shared block in Montrose, two adjacent projects recently completed and now operating side-by-side present a deliberately interwoven contrast: one a storied, historic mansion-turned-boutique hotel and the other a sleek, contemporary apartment tower.
The family-owned La Colombe d’Or Hotel reopened on March 29 after an extensive renovation and expansion.
Nearby is The Residences at La Colombe d’Or, a privately held Hines high-rise that began leasing units in August 2020.
Although the hotel and the residences are operated independently, the two developments were intentionally designed to complement one another. They share common spaces, amenities and visual themes that blend classic architectural details with modern design.
A corridor and breezeway connect the tower and the hotel, allowing visitors to look through from one property into the other and to glimpse the hotel’s nine garden bungalows across the street.
Between the tower and the boutique hotel, a park-like plaza offers outdoor dining, casual gathering spaces and people-watching opportunities. Several private pocket gardens around the property provide additional outdoor rooms for residents and guests.
Visually tying together the hotel’s three distinct components is a curated private art and sculpture collection of more than 350 pieces spanning the past century, displayed throughout the shared spaces.
HIGH TIMES
The 34-story tower encompasses 358,716 square feet and 265 units. It was designed by Munoz + Albin, with common-area interiors by Rottet Studio—the same studio responsible for the hotel interiors—and landscape architecture by Robinson & Co.
The tower’s ground level includes two secured wings of 18 hotel-style suites, each featuring living rooms and small private patios or balconies, or both.
The residences are a joint venture among Hines, the Zimmerman family and TIAA Global Asset Management.
As part of the finished work, hotel guests have access to the residential tower’s fitness center and pool, which provide expansive views of downtown from their perch above Montrose Boulevard, two blocks south of Westheimer Road. Residents, in turn, may use the hotel’s dining destinations, including the Today & Tomorrow restaurant, an expanded lounge and garden amenities.
Balancing the old and the new while accommodating different uses was a core challenge for both projects, said Dan Zimmerman, principal of La Colombe d’Or. “It needed to flow and combine as a campus.”
To achieve that campus-like cohesion, the tower’s base was designed with a more classical scale to act as a sympathetic backdrop for the shared, lower-level spaces before the building rises into its modern upper profiles.
The walkable Montrose neighborhood also features notable architecture nearby by designers such as I.M. Pei and Peter Camburas, contributing to the area’s visual richness.
The Guest Book
On a recent preview tour as staff prepared for the hotel reopening, Zimmerman described the two-year renovation as a painstaking, detail-focused undertaking led by Paradigm Design Innovations.
The renovation addressed three distinct full-service hotel components: the intimate five-suite mansion, the 18 more traditional tower rooms and nine eclectic garden units arranged around a courtyard, reimagined by Gin Design Group.
“It was important for us to offer a variety of accommodation types to suit the many needs of our guests,” Zimmerman said in project materials.
Preserving the property’s landmark status was also paramount.
Built in 1923, the mansion was originally designed for the family of Walter W. Fondren—co-founder of Humble Oil, predecessor to Exxon Mobil—by Albert Finn, one of Houston’s prominent early 20th-century architects.
Before Steve Zimmerman purchased and converted the property into a hotel more than 40 years ago, the mansion had served varied community functions, including as offices for the American Red Cross, the Visiting Nurse Association and a school for children with intellectual disabilities, Dan Zimmerman noted.
During the renovation, Zimmerman summed up the approach this way: “We touched everything and we touched nothing.” The project carefully updated the property’s systems and hospitality spaces while retaining its historic character.
A Weave of Brickwork
Rather than gut the mansion to its studs, the renovation worked with the building’s original room layout, thick plaster walls and gleaming oak woodwork, adapting and refining spaces for modern hospitality use.
Rooms were reinterpreted to house the restaurant, lounge and craft cocktail bar. The bar was expanded by incorporating the former porte-cochere outdoor area and lightened with a full-height window wall that showcases an intentional stitch of original and new brickwork where old and new meet.
A small archway was opened between the lounge and the bar to improve circulation and provide access to new restrooms, while the ground floor retains its grand residential bones. A timber-gridded ceiling in the dining room balances a refreshed, crisp color palette below.
The former music room preserves decorative plasterwork that animates with changing light and shadow. As a nod to the building’s iconic green tile roof and the heritage magnolia tree outside, green remains a subtle accent throughout common areas and a striking focal color within the bar.
At the mansion’s entrance, a grand staircase with burnished balusters leads to the second level, which now contains five updated one-bedroom guest suites with marble-finished bathrooms. A former sixth suite has been repurposed as a lounge with direct access to outdoor amenities. The prior third-floor ballroom—previously used as the hotel’s art gallery—is no longer a single gallery space; the hotel’s art collection is now integrated throughout the property.
Like many large projects, the renovation took longer than initially planned. The work was extended by the pandemic, and the extreme winter freeze struck just weeks before the scheduled reopening, but the team persisted.
Despite the delays, Zimmerman said he is eager to welcome Houston residents and travelers back to the refreshed hotel.
March 13, 2021 Realty News Report Copyright 2021
File: Hines. Mashup in Montrose Combines Classic and Contemporary