Houston's Oldest Suburb Deserves a Landscape That Honors It.

Houston Heights was founded in 1891 — Houston’s first planned community, developed by Oscar Martin Carter and Daniel Denton Cooley on 1,700 acres of land sitting 23 feet above the surrounding city. That elevation was its original selling point in an era when yellow fever swept Houston’s low-lying neighborhoods. Today, it’s simply the neighborhood’s character: tree-lined boulevards, a walkable grid, and a concentration of Victorian and Craftsman architecture that represents more than a century of continuous habitation and careful preservation.

The Heights Boulevard esplanade — listed on the National Register of Historic Places — runs through the heart of the neighborhood. The Houston Heights Association manages deed restrictions and historic preservation standards for one of the largest historic districts in the city, designated in 2007 and 2008. Properties within the historic district are subject to deed restrictions that govern architectural changes, additions, and in some cases landscape elements visible from the street. Working in The Heights means understanding those standards — and designing landscapes that a preservation-conscious community finds fitting.

The Heights also presents a physical challenge that estate neighborhoods don’t share: most lots are modest in size, often 5,000 to 7,000 square feet, with significant portions occupied by the home, front porch, and garage. Front yards face the street at close proximity. Neighbors and pedestrians see everything. And the mix of property types — original 1910 Victorians beside 2019 townhomes beside 1928 Craftsman bungalows — creates a streetscape where landscape design that reads as generic or out of character stands out immediately.