When Roger Massicott first saw the former Model Laundry building, constructed in 1913, he described it as “bare bones and derelict.” He recalled that when he purchased the property, “there was a guy named Jimmy Whitlock here who was a motorcycle man. He has since passed. He had over 300 Nortons and Triumphs, even sidecars, and he occupied the entire upstairs space.”
At the time, the only elevator in the building was a hand-pulley freight model that no longer functioned, so Massicott noted that Whitlock simply rolled the motorcycles up and down the stairs.
Massicott later installed a modern elevator, and the Galveston Park Board moved into the building’s upper floor. The governor - the crucial mechanism that once regulated the speed of the original elevator - now sits refurbished on the floor outside its replacement. The two concrete posts and the overhang in the same location were part of the original elevator’s support system.
He gradually built out the first-floor retail spaces along the 25th Street side of the structure, but remembers, “this was the outskirts of downtown at the time, so I was lucky to get anyone to lease them.”
The biggest challenge of renovating the building was the structure itself, according to Massicott. “They built it after the 1900 Storm so they would never have to deal with that type of devastation. The entire building is concrete - the roof, the floors, everything - so it’s not easy drilling a hole through any of it. Every penetration required special tools.”
He added, “I raised the slabs too by pouring new floors on top of the old floors. With 15-foot-high ceilings, we had plenty of height to work with.”
The Park Board moved its offices out of the building after 12 years, and Massicott could not find another tenant who needed that much space.
The problem soon became an opportunity. After living in various places across the island since 1992, he decided to build the loft he had always wanted.
“I fell in love with downtown when I first started living here, but wanted to be a little removed from the busier streets,” he said. “The Model Laundry building offered the answer.”
Massicott noted that “we started building out the loft spaces about seven years ago, in 2018.” The building is now home for him and his wife, Jen, who have been married a little over five years.
“But I’ve known her for 41 years,” Roger says with a grin.
“My sister is married to his brother,” Jen explains with a smile. “I met him 41 years ago when we were both in their wedding.”
Evidently, good things do come to those who wait, and the couple seems to make a great team.
“I build the spaces, and she decorates them,” Roger says. And with every compliment about the warm, elegant décor of the rooms, he quickly adds, “That’s Jen.”
She clearly has a talent for envisioning ways to make large spaces feel elegant yet livable. Massicott jokes that her “woman’s touch” has definitely made the loft feel less “dude-ish,” which is what she calls spaces that retain more of their rough, industrial character.
“When I built this loft, it was just going to be for me,” he says. “Then my daughters moved in, so I added bedrooms, and it kind of evolved. It’s now a three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath, so every bedroom has its own bathroom. Then I built an office.”
The open living area is spacious but arranged into inviting zones for living, dining, and cooking - all framed by an entire wall of large windows that look down 25th Street toward Broadway.
Their décor includes vintage reminders of the building’s original owner, Model Laundry and Dye Works. “I’ve found artifacts over the years, and friends have gifted me things like hangers from the old Model Laundry,” Roger says.
Pointing to a framed newspaper ad for the business, he explains, “I saw this when a neighbor down the street found it in the walls while redoing his house and happened to post it on social media.”
He also proudly points out an antique mirrored wall cabinet in the bathroom, still emblazoned with the Model Laundry name. “I found that in a bathroom at an Airbnb in Smithville. The owner was going to replace it, so I purchased it from her. I just thought that was serendipity.”
His collections extend well beyond the laundry, as shown by the row of antique game boards lining the wall that leads to the back bedrooms. “I like old stuff,” he says with a smile.
“I remember when I first bought this,” Roger says. “My friends thought it was nuts because it’s so far removed from downtown. It’s close enough to everything, but it’s away from the noise.”
Jen adds, “And with our loft and even the 25th-Street-facing lofts, all of the bedrooms are on the inside of the spaces, away from the large windows, so even during Lone Star Rally we can’t really hear anything in the bedroom.”
“The two other finished lofts upstairs are more what I would call ‘real’ lofts,” Massicott explains, “with their wide-open spaces and visible joists in the ceiling. When I first leased them, I was getting $700 a month for 2,500 square feet, but it’s progressed since then.”
He smiles and says, “It’s been fun. The people I have in this building are my neighbors.”
There are 14 commercial and residential units in the building. “And all of the commercial units, except for the corner, can be made into living areas,” Massicott explains.
“Over the years, I’ve added onto the back sides of the units, so they have washers, dryers, and kitchens.”
Eight of the units are now occupied as residences, each with a parking space in the indoor garage. Two of those tenants are artists.
Painter Roseanne Roth has one of her works displayed in the hallway outside her loft. The other artist is a welder who has also created pieces for the building. Massicott adds, “Every complex in Galveston needs at least one artist on the property.”
Original skylights fill the plant-filled atrium between the lofts with soft, indirect light. “They were engineered beautifully,” Massicott says, “because the orientation doesn’t get direct light, so it lets in light but not direct sun.”
Other historic details - including immense fire doors and storm shutters - can be seen in the hallways as a nod to the building’s past.
An open area between the original structure and the two-story yellow brick annex on the south side, built in 1928, has been transformed into an attractive stairwell that leads to the roof area the couple refers to as their “backyard.”
Windows that were once on the exterior facing the annex now overlook the interior of the beautifully appointed stairwell.
“I restored all the windows,” Massicott says. “They were in bad shape, so I took them apart and redid them. There are 52 pieces in each one.”
Exiting the stairs to the roof, visitors first step beneath a gazebo with a hammock and chairs, surrounded by lush containers of plants and flowers and covered with a jasmine vine. “It’s really pretty when it’s blooming in April, and smells like heaven,” Jen says.
“I like plants, too,” Massicott adds. “I’m sort of the head janitor and gardener here.”
“Eventually the plan is to build a movie deck here,” he continues, indicating an open space on the roof. “It’ll cover this whole area, and that way we can show movies on this wall.”
The wall he refers to belongs to a small “pop-up” structure he added that contains a full kitchen and bathroom for entertaining.
Another compact structure, originally intended for storage, has been transformed into a comfortable gathering space with a large sofa and chairs. “The sofa folds out into a bed,” Jen explains, “so we can actually have a guest stay up here.”
Friendly gargoyles keep watch from the four corners of the precipice.
But the best rooftop views come from two raised areas at opposite corners of the roof, each with its own firepit surrounded by chairs.
“I don’t know why more people don’t utilize their rooftops down here,” Massicott says. “Before we ever built anything up here, we’d just bring our lawn chairs to the roof and hang out.”
Back downstairs, on the opposite side of the stairwell, is the section originally built as an annex but now fully incorporated into the main structure. From the exterior’s south side, it’s easy to spot because the brick glaze is slightly different in color.
“When I bought it, the interior walls of that section were covered with at least 18 inches of coal,” Massicott recalls. “It had been used as a cold-storage facility for ladies’ furs.”
The back side once held the old loading docks and possibly one of the washrooms, as suggested by plumbing uncovered during renovations.
“There are so many interesting details,” Jen says.
When asked about her favorite things about living in the loft, Jen doesn’t hesitate. “I love the roof. But I also love our living space here, especially the view at night with all the lights in the trees down 25th Street. Having a fireplace is definitely a bonus, too.”
Massicott answers the same question with a laugh: “That this one’s done,” though he nods when Jen points out that he spends plenty of time in his elegant office. “It’s been a labor of love,” he says.
After renovating 14 structures in Galveston, Massicott admits the commercial projects are “more fun, even though it’s a little more work because all of the electrical has to be encased and sprinkler systems installed.”
“The building has come a long way,” he adds, “and there are still areas I want to continue redoing.”
He clearly has a special fondness for the Model Laundry project. “We’re going to stay here. I want to keep the building intact. The building we did on Mechanic and 25th Street was sold and converted into condos because we couldn’t hold on to it. The taxes were too high.”
“This one, we’re going to hold on to as long as we can.”
Given what a dedicated caretaker he has been of Galveston’s history, the island hopes so as well.