Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

Homeowner Linda Jordan describes her décor as “eclectic,” combining a few antiques with contemporary furnishings and clean lines. “We go with what we like, not trends,” she said.

By Diane S. Morales, Caller-Times

July 03, 2005

Staked outside Linda Jordan and Frank Smith’s soon-to-be home was a sign that read:

“An early 1950s vintage restored masterpiece designed by internationally famous local architect Richard Colley for entertaining and the easy South Texas lifestyle.”

Jordan and Smith bought the house on Melrose Avenue 12 years ago, saving the sign along with a tattered, yellowed Caller-Times article about Richard Colley that was stapled to it.

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

An artsy, dramatic wood floor pattern graces the entry way in the home that leads to hardy walnut floors in the kitchen and refinished honey oak floors in the living area.

The architectural history of the home was a bonus for the couple, but when they peeked through the slated windows, they were sold.

“We loved the wooden floors and the big open space of the great room,” Jordan said. “Frank’s son, who was 9 or 10 at the

time, thought it would be a great place to have dances and charge people.”

Jordan, president of L.K Jordan & Associates, and Smith, who owns Exceed Printing and Fast Facts Mail Service, haven’t hosted a dance in the great room. After 14 years of marriage and major renovations throughout the home, Jordan and Smith created a timeless place of their own to slow dance through life.

Heavy eaves, with a deep rake or angle, and flat roofs were a Colley signature in his early design years, according to James Boggs, facilities architect for Corpus Christi, who also designed parts of the couple’s home when he was in private practice.

“His work was usually a series of planes. Strong vertical lines or planes that intersect,” Boggs said. “His work wasn’t always like that. We all mature.”

Colley designed Memorial Coliseum, King High School, the 4600 building on Ocean Drive and many homes in the city.

Jordan and Smith asked Boggs to design a master suite and convert a bedroom into a master bath. Boggs said he started the project in 1991.

“I felt it was important that what we did wasn’t small, but harmonized with the original house,” Boggs said. “Therefore we used the same detailing on the house, such as eave lines and exterior building materials.”

To add a 400-square-foot master suite on the second

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

Jordan bought this unique lamp at the Susan Castor Collection, which she credits for many of her home’s decorative accents.

floor, Boggs had to reconstruct the roof and place deeper rafters adjacent to older rafters, he said, adding a single column in the living room for support.

From the home’s rust box-like, modern facade, it’s hard to imagine the home’s decor. Jordan and Smith could have easily followed the mid- century modern motif with minimalist furnishings.

“Frank liked the house just the way it was,” Jordan said. “I wanted to update it and open the kitchen.”

And so it was done. Over a period of time, the Colley creation was tweaked into a 2,800-square-foot two-bedroom, three-bathroom home of classic comfort.

Great room

Jordan was set on having an entry in the home, which meant enclosing the porch. As a result, Smith paved a mock brick pattern patio surrounded with orange ixora, white impatiens, Mexican heather and other plants shaded by maturing oak trees.

“Frank did all of the landscaping. He’s a do-it-yourselfer,” Jordan said.

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

A flat front façade was Richard Colley’s signature early in his architectural career, according to James Boggs. Boggs redesigned parts of the home, adding the master suite upstairs.

Past the teak wood patio furniture and weathered Adirondack chairs, a zigzag wood floor pattern of various shades spans the entry with art-like detail.

“It took two months to finish. He was a perfectionist,” Jordan said. “I didn’t think he would ever finish.”

Refinished oak floors gleam around a wall partition with one doorway leading to the living area and another doorway leading to the kitchen.

In the great room, large picture windows infuse light into the area from the patio and backyard view.

The focal point of the living area is undoubtedly the gas fireplace trimmed with glossy black granite flushed against a cherry red brick wall. A cream-colored entertainment center next to the fireplace once served as a pass-through for getting firewood from the outside without having to step outdoors.

“We crawled through the space once when we were locked out,” Jordan laughed, “so we thought it was best to close it.”

A few of Smith’s family antiques mingle with the contemporary furnishings, blending old and new. His late grandmother’s octagon dining table with matching chairs is set near picture windows overlooking the patio. Jordan credits the Susan Castor Collection for reupholstering the chairs with a pattern that works with the room’s decor.

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

Ruby red dishware adds a punch of color for a lively lunch or an elegant dinner on the maple table designed by homeowner Frank Smith.

Another of Smith’s sentimental pieces is his grandmother’s china cabinet, which Jordan said was spared by Hurricane Celia. The glass doors were replaced to display Jordan’s colorful wineglass collection.

Mid modern to contemporary

Dividing the living area and the kitchen is another dining table of sentimental value, but from the craftsman himself. Smith designed the drop leaf maple table several years ago.

“It’s so heavy, you can hardly lift a leaf.” Jordan said. “He said ‘love me, love my table.’ So I did.”

Directly behind the table is a glossy granite island that’s a catch-all for groceries, a serving station or a place where Jordan sits to watch her husband make sushi.

Sleek cherry cabinets with slender silver hardware, stainless appliances and drop lights with colorful art glass shades snake above the island and elongated kitchen.

“The kitchen had metal cabinets. Frank said they’d last forever, but I didn’t like them,” Jordan said.

A black granite back-splash behind the stove mimics the island and the fireplace, but speckled granite in black, brown and tan covers the rest of the kitchen counters.

Jordan said she changed her mind 40 times before she decided on the kitchen’s design. But the result, along with the rest of the home’s renovations respects Colley’s vision.

“Linda did a hell of a job with the redesign, and I think Colley would agree,” Smith said.