![<p style="font-family: Rajdhani;font-weight: 400;text-transform: uppercase;">PC 1246<br>26°17’30.1”N 97°17’36.3”W<br>South Padre</p> stilt houses of texas cover photo](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-1.jpg?itok=h-H7kZ-D×tamp=1544020521)
Images: Tim Romano. Words: Chad Shmukler.
If you ask me, I'll tell you that Tim Romano is a modern day photographer made for an earlier time; a time before Photoshop, clarity sliders and prepackaged image filters. In a world now awash with imagery that often seems geared to appeal to our basest instincts or to maximizing "time on device"—by triggering an instant, but fleeting dopamine rush that sends us endlessly scrolling through our Instagram feeds in search of the next cheap high—Tim's work often seems plucked from a bygone era. Regardless of the diverse subjects that his lens captures—the way late season sunlight illuminates a hallway, the tenderness of moments at his family's camp in the Adirondacks, stacks of beehives outside Fort Smith, Montana—Tim consistently finds a way to convey the beauty in simple things. Perhaps most importantly, he does so by relying on old fashioned tools like composition, light and perspective instead of overwrought post processing and manipulation. In fact, it's Tim's considerable restraint in the "darkroom" that lets the loveliness of real, everyday things take center stage in his photos.
So who better then than Romano to take on the passion project of lifelong Texan Michael J. Medrano, which eventually took form as Stilt Houses of Texas, to document the rustic simplicity of the people, communities and stilt houses that line the Texas coast?
PC 1246
26°17’30.1”N 97°17’36.3”W
South Padre
![Romano and Medrano spent months traversing the entirety of the 379 mile-long Texas intracoastal waterway, documenting its stilt houses with anglers and the other individuals that call them part time homes. stilt houses of texas](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-2.jpg?itok=eP1DbMwd×tamp=1544020521)
![<p style="font-family: Rajdhani;font-weight: 400;text-transform: uppercase;">PC 1494<br>29°11'33.5"N 95°09'13.2"W<br>Chocolate Bay</p> <p>Many of the stilt houses that dot the Texas coast were built by all manner of what Medrano calls "enterprising individuals" over decades prior to 1973, the year in which the Texas government took possession of all of what were then viewed as squatter shacks along the coast. Since that time, the stilt houses have been managed by the state. Residents apply for a permit and enter into a 5-year lease agreement with the state. Each house must be clearly adorned with its "PC" number, which stands for "permitted cabin."</p> PC 1494 - Chocolate Bay - stilt houses of texas](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-4.jpg?itok=lOVP1hHK×tamp=1544020521)
PC 1494
29°11'33.5"N 95°09'13.2"W
Chocolate Bay
Many of the stilt houses that dot the Texas coast were built by all manner of what Medrano calls "enterprising individuals" over decades prior to 1973, the year in which the Texas government took possession of all of what were then viewed as squatter shacks along the coast. Since that time, the stilt houses have been managed by the state. Residents apply for a permit and enter into a 5-year lease agreement with the state. Each house must be clearly adorned with its "PC" number, which stands for "permitted cabin."
!["Bird in a box," one of countless birds among the wildly diverse populations that thrive along the Texas coast—an excerpted image not found in the book. bird in a box - stilt houses of texas](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-3.jpg?itok=bkRzV_eQ×tamp=1544020521)
![Barbara and Earl Manning stand on the porch of PC 1575, a weekend getaway along Texas' upper coast where the couple enjoys hosting their grandchildren. stilt houses of texas - pc 1575](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-5.jpg?itok=_E2RcfWz×tamp=1544020521)
![You'll find no shortage of BBQ pits like this accompanying Texas' stilt houses, which Medrano calls a "required cooking appliance." bbq pit - stilt houses of texas](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-6.jpg?itok=Fm_ClS79×tamp=1544020521)
![<p style="font-family: Rajdhani;font-weight: 400;text-transform: uppercase;">PC 1349<br>26°49'24.0"N 97°28'06.2"W</p>](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-7.jpg?itok=MshkzTzw×tamp=1544020521)
PC 1349
26°49'24.0"N 97°28'06.2"W
![Captain Ben Paschal poles two anglers along the Spoil Islands in the Laguna Madre. ben paschal - lagunda madre - stilt houses of texas](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-8.jpg?itok=Opo_nnuo×tamp=1544020521)
![Captain Kevin Townsend checks the weather while angler Thomas Williams picks the next fly to offer to Port O'Connor's waiting redfish. kevin townsend - thomas williams - stilt houses of texas](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-9.jpg?itok=7ZkA68O0×tamp=1544020521)
![pc 1554 - laguna madre - stilt houses of texas](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-15.jpg?itok=1gWWR5Wr×tamp=1544020521)
![<p style="font-family: Rajdhani;font-weight: 400;text-transform: uppercase;">PC 1554<br>26°17'47.2"N 97°17'39.7"W<br>Laguna Madre</p> pc 1554 - laguna madre - stilt houses of texas](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romnot-0580.jpg?itok=YIKCjLXZ×tamp=1544029059)
PC 1554
26°17'47.2"N 97°17'39.7"W
Laguna Madre
![redfish - stilt houses of texas](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-10.jpg?itok=WP_DQbWa×tamp=1544020521)
![Though tarpon and countless other saltwater species are in abundance along the Texas coast, the favorite target is redfish, known for their benevolent looks, rich coloring and characteristic black spot on the upper part of their tail. redfish - stilt houses of texas](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-16.jpg?itok=njuFWGcR×tamp=1544020521)
![Ken Williams and Andy Knape inside the upper coast cabin—PC 1494—that the pair built together in 1984.](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-11.jpg?itok=v_WotkYy×tamp=1544020521)
![A perfect example of the Texas “Salt Box" style architecture. Heavy on the salt, box, and a generous helping of bird shit. salt box architecture - stilt houses of texas](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-12.jpg?itok=A5_AZqvD×tamp=1544020521)
![kevin giles and daisy - stilt houses of texas](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-14.jpg?itok=OogGkHRT×tamp=1544020521)
![Kevin Giles and his dog Daisy outside of PC 1190, which his grandfather built in the 1960s and where Giles spent much of his time growing up. kevin giles and daisy - stilt houses of texas](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-13.jpg?itok=6pNEgqTG×tamp=1544020521)
![In all, Romano and Medrano document over 400 PCs in <a style="font-style:italic" href="https://www.stilthouses.com/" target="_blank">Stilt Houses of Texas</a>. It's a book for anglers and non-anglers alike and one which offers an immersive view of the real human substance of the expansive Texas coastal community, which has stood defiantly against the ravages of the coast's briny water, salt-laden air, punishing storms and, perhaps most of all, time. <p class="byline" style="font-size: 17px !important;">Tim Romano is a fine arts and commercial photographer based out of Boulder, Colorado. You can join Tim this April 2-9 in Christmas Island to chase over 16 species of fish while learning photography tips from a pro. <a href="http://www.timromano.com/" target="_blank">Contact Tim</a> for more info.</p> stilt houses of texas - galveston bay](https://www.hatchmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/preload/public/romanostilt-17.jpg?itok=3rGy5SN_×tamp=1544020521)
Add new comment