OVERLEAF GARDENS

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ABOUT  OVERLEAF  GARDEN
 

Overleaf Garden is located in an established subdivision in a rapidly growing suburban town about an hour’s drive north of Houston, Texas. Carved from a nearly century old second growth pine and mixed hardwood forest, the original  landscape was dominated by mature specimen trees and select understory natives such as Dogwood, Redbud, and Yaupon Holly.  A St. Augustine lawn with beds of seasonally flowering Azaleas, Camellias, other imported shrubs, and selected perennial plantings completed the design. It all made for a pleasant and rather predictable landscape in the mid 1960’s, when pleasant and predictable were desired and expected. A little boring perhaps, but relaxing and comforting in its own way.   By the time I acquired the property in late 2014, the rigors of a half century’s exposure to East Texas heat, drought, heavy rains and “Blue Northers,” plus the occasional hurricane had diminished the thick tree canopy to a spotty covering at best. Trees damaged by storms or felled by old age sparsely shade a lawn reduced to more weeds and bare earth than manicured grass. The once rich native leaf mold and quality garden soil  imported by the original landscapers has eroded to the underlying native sand, clay and gravel.  Invasive imported plants and vigorous native species had taken over most of the remaining  beds, making for an almost impenetrable thicket, and signaling for an ongoing reinterpretation of the landscape.

ABOUT  OVERLEAF  HOUSE
 
Commissioned and custom built in 1968, Overleaf House has been cleverly and variously labeled  Mid-Century Mash-up,  (F)ranch Provincial,  Chateau Ranch,  Empire Revival, and Hollywood Regency. Sarcasm notwithstanding, out of all the descriptions, I like Hollywood Regency the best.  It carries just the right balance of intended formality and unanticipated kitsch that perfectly captures the spirit of the house. Essentially unchanged since it was built, I purchased it from the grandson of the original owner in late 2014, with an eye towards a sympathetic updating. It currently features a pink tile master bathroom with coordinated pink plumbing fixtures, blurry overly antiqued vanity mirrors, “French inspired” millwork and hardware details. The formal living spaces have acanthus detailed crown moldings, an obligatory crystal chandelier with gold accents,  and yes… gold flocked metallic wallpaper. The Den/Family Room has dark wood paneling, a parquet wood floor, a cathedral ceiling with recessed “eyeball” light fixtures and a polished brass 6 light chandelier. To all this splendor, add HVAC woes, plumbing and electrical systems that have almost never been updated, vintage single pane aluminum frame windows that leak conditioned air and sound, sketchy appliances from the 70’s that “mostly” work, and a thirty-ish year old roof with raccoon, squirrel and other varmint issues, and you have a remodel in the making. It will be a fun and entertaining challenge to keep some of the kitschy character while bringing the house elegantly into the 21st Century.
ABOUT  ME
 

Hello, I’m Carson… the owner, gardener, laborer, and blogger of Overleaf Gardens. I’m a Texas native with roots going back well before its founding. A graduate of Sam Houston State University with a degree in Fine Arts/Studio Arts, and a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Houston, I began my professional design career as a furniture designer for a small custom furniture maker located in Houston, Texas. I soon heard the call of New York City, and moved there in 1994 to bolster my design knowledge and experience while working with such design luminaries as Peter Marino, Juan Pablo Molyneaux, David Easton, Charlotte Moss, Jamie Drake, and John B. Murray. I returned to Texas in 2012 to assist with family obligations, and soon found work at Lighting Unlimited, under the auspices of Bernard Woolf in Houston, Texas. In late 2019, after nearly 7 years learning and honing the skills of a Lighting Designer, and a 25 plus year career in the design industry, I went on hiatus from custom and commercial design work to take a few classes, figure out my future, and assist as a caregiver for an elderly family member with dementia. While my life and career might be in transition, my drive to learn, grow,  and create has stayed strong.  I’ve tried not to stray far from my artistic and design roots, and continued to learn and find expressive outlets in photography, drawing, painting, fabric arts, furniture design, gardening, and blogging.