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Preservation Texas announced the 2011 recipients of its annual Honor Awards for Preservation. The annual honor awards program “recognizes historic preservation that inspires all Texans and encourages us in our efforts to protect the historic resources of Texas.” Susan and Josiah Daniel enlisted Texas architect, Stephen Chambers, AIA, to rehabilitate a family treasure, an 1856 Dog Trot Log Home hand-built by Josiah’s great great-grandfather, Josiah Goodson Daniel. The home was carefully disassembled from its location near Corsicana, reassembled and placed on the Smith Farm near Tyler to be used as a guest house for the family ranch, also designed by Stephen B. Chambers Architects, Inc. This is the first year that an award for Stewardship will given, making Josiah and Susan Daniel the first in the state of Texas to receive this new Honor Award. The award was initiated because, “Preservation Texas wants to encourage Texas families to preserve their homesteads as a valuable addition to the Texas historical built environment,” says the organization’s Executive Director, Krista Gebbia.
The vintage timber frame dog trot home (two-pen) was beautifully restored by Heritage Restorations near Waco, Texas. Heritage locates, dismantles, restores, and re-erects 18th and 19th century timber frame barns, hand-hewn log cabins, gristmills, and other historic buildings.

The awards will be presented during Preservation Texas’s Celebrate Texas Preservation reception on Thursday, March 31 at 5:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Capitol in Austin. The reception is being held in conjunction with the Texas Historical Commission’s Annual Historic Preservation Conference that will take place March 31 through April 2, 2011. The Honor Awards were judged by an independent jury of distinguished professionals representing a cross‐section of disciplines within the field of historic preservation. The award reads as follows: “Josiah and Susan Daniel are awarded Preservation Texas’ Stewardship Award for the preservation of the Daniel 1856 Dog Trot Log Home, Smith County. Mr. and Mrs. Daniel have proven their dedication and passion for preserving a piece of Texas history.” Preservation Texas, Inc. is a statewide nonprofit organization that advocates for preserving the historic resources of Texas. The annual award program encourages the preservation of Texas’ significant historic sites. Preservation Texas honors individuals, government officials, businesses, organizations and news media that have made significant contributions to preservation efforts in Texas. A Case Study of how this home was restored may be found as this link. For more information about the organization’s preservations efforts see: www.preservationtexas.org