SPECIAL EVENTS

Restored and beautiful, the Lofts in Downtown Galveston are showing off their best faces - and private spaces - this year for two days in October. Galveston.com presents the  2010 Downtown Galveston Lofts Tour October 2nd & 3rd.  The 2010 Downtown Lofts Tour features eight extraordinary private residences in beautiful historic downtown Galveston

Historic buildings provide a unique palette for the creation of modern living spaces. Unusual building materials, some of which are no longer available, and beautiful patinas that only many decades of use and exposure can create, enhance the rooms. Built long before modern air-conditioning and in some cases even before the advent of electric lighting in the City, the design of the buildings responded to the tropical climate with high-ceilings and large windows allowing the interiors to be bathed in natural light and let the ocean breeze flow through. Today, these once practical considerations result in spectacular loft spaces, resulting in what we call “Urban living with an Island Twist!”

This year, guests will have the chance to explore a wide range of living spaces and decorative styles each unique to its owner. From a young couple’s chic loft decorated in a monochromatic white palette, to a sprawling family compound that spans the upper floors of three adjacent buildings, variety is at the heart of the tour. Absorb the carefully balanced blend of styles, colors and accents in the vast loft of an interior designer, and then be wowed by another home that takes a black and white color scheme and with a splash of red. No matter your own style you are sure to find something you like in this year’s great selection of loft homes.

This year's tour lofts:

2019 Postoffice - The“Fish” Building
This 3 story building was constructed in 1915 as a furniture store. The building draws its “modern” name from the painting of a fish that was on the west side of the building.
 
2207 Postoffice – Eibands Luxury Condominiums
Long known as the Ballinger & Jack Building because of the prominent Galveston law firm that occupied the building, the building is now more commonly referred to as Eibands, a longstanding Galveston clothing Company.

2115 Postoffice – The Kress Building
This building was constructed in 1928 by the Kress Company and existed as one of three adjacent five –and dime stores. In 1993 the building was converted to lofts.
 
2318 Market – 1874 A. Flake & Company Building
The Market Street Lofts originally consisted of four side-by-side commercial buildings. The conversion of the buildings into a unified loft apartment complex received an American Institute of Architects design award in 2001.

2118-20 Postoffice – Peoples Theater
Originally built as a theater in 1908, the Knights of Columbus acquired the building in 1916. The building was rehabilitated in1996.
 
2023 Strand – 1857 Nichols Building
One of Galveston’s pre-Civil War buildings still standing, the Nichols Building was commissioned to house various commercial interests. In the early 1980’s, the second and third floors were converted to a bed and breakfast, The Inn on The Strand. The Inn is now a private family retreat.

525 22nd St – The Telephone Building
The Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Company constructed this, its first building in Texas in 1896.The architecture was that of Alfred Muller who, after Nicholas Clayton, was Galveston’s best known Victorian architect.