Bobby Hitt · Founder of TexasTexas.com

A creator of things, stories & adventures.

"My name is Bobby and I am a creator. Not creator spelled with a capital C, so don't click the exit button yet. I just mean I like to create things." Rustic pieces in wood and steel, short stories, and two decades of life abroad, all written down here since 1996.

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Bobby Hitt at work in his garage workshop

"Designing even simple things is a process in which both creator and material evolve."Bobby Hitt

1996TexasTexas.com goes online

11 yrsliving in Kuwait, plus Qatar & Seoul

11countries in his expat book

1two-car-garage shop for wood & metal

About Bobby

From the Navy to the Gulf, and home to Houston

Bobby served in the US Navy around 1970, then built a long career in quality assurance and quality control. That career is where his perfectionism comes from: "When I produce something I take pride in it and I want people to recognize the effort and detail that went into the piece."

In 1998 he left the USA on what he thought would be a one- or two-year adventure. It turned into eleven years in Kuwait, a year in Qatar and another in Seoul, Korea, with work and travel through India, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the Mediterranean and beyond. He met Sousan in Istanbul in 2004, and they married in Sri Lanka in 2005.

They came back to "the United State of Texas" in October 2012 and settled into a converted warehouse near downtown Houston, furnished with pieces collected on their travels. These days that includes the gated urban vineyard and food forest beside the Urban Vineyard Apartment.

The Kids

Erik, Jason & Leah

Bobby's three kids spent part of their childhood with him in Kuwait. Their flat, their school, their soccer and their mischief all made it onto TexasTexas.com, and Bobby's funniest childhood stories were written down for them.

Read Stories for My Kids

Erik

The one who asked for the stories

It was Erik who asked his dad to write down the funny things that happened to him as a kid, and that request became Stories for My Kids. Erik also had his own corner of TexasTexas.com, "Erik Hitt's Play Space", where he wrote about teaching himself HTML, JavaScript and Python.

He later served in Afghanistan and spent his 21st birthday there. On his first leave, Bobby and Sousan met him in Germany for a Rhine River cruise, where Erik volunteered for the chef's apple strudel demonstration, using skills from his pizza-throwing days.

Jason

Football in Kuwait

"Jason really loves this football stuff." In Kuwait, a friend of Bobby's started a youth football (soccer) training camp with professional coaches and even a sports doctor on the field. It grew from 5 kids at the first session to 17 by the third, and Bobby was there taking pictures for Jason's own page on the site.

Today Jason builds Hitt-A-Trade and custom PCs, and he rebuilt this site.

Leah

"Princess Leah"

The family's flat in Kuwait got its own photo tour on TexasTexas.com, and Leah is all over it: doing puzzles in the family room, and in the room Bobby captioned "Where Princess Leah sleeps."

The kids went to school in Kuwait too, and their school was one of the first places Bobby photographed "around town" back in 1999.

The Workshop

Rustic wood, iron and a little steampunk

"All of my work is hand-made in a two-car garage shop that I have equipped for wood working as well as metal working (in spite of my wife crying, 'you don't need another tool!!')." Bobby builds the benches, the vises, even the switch covers himself, often from salvaged and antique parts.

Portfolio

One-of-a-kind creations

Each piece started with a part that caught Bobby's eye. Tap a photo to see more of it. Interested in something similar? Get in touch.

6 photos

Steel · Solid oak · Antique

Grain Mill Floor Lamp

An antique grain mill found at an antique mall, a John Deere tractor gear, a 1930s milk glass shade, vintage cloth cord and plug, on a solid oak base. "There is no other lamp in the world like this one."

5 photos

Wrought iron · West Texas cedar

Cedar Pot Rack

Made from raw materials: cedar (Ashe juniper) Bobby harvested, de-barked and seasoned himself, with steel bars cut, hand-twisted and welded into the rack and S hooks.

4 photos

Anvil · Antiqued wood · Steel

Mounted Anvil

A farrier's anvil, built for shoeing horses and actually used in the shop, on a stand with hand-cut, bent and welded steel hardware. Industrial art for the living room.

2 photos

Distressed wood · Pipe · Copper

Copper Pot Chandelier

Aged wood, old pipe with a brushed rust patina, an antique wooden pulley and an antique Turkish copper pot over the dining table.

4 photos

Trailer wheel · Pipe

Pendant & Torch Lights

Pendant lights made from a trailer wheel, a fruit basket and water pipe, and wall torches from old pipe.

4 photos

Ranch rebar · Angle iron · Chain

Rebar Table & Chains

A small table of aged wood and rebar that once served as fence posts on a Texas Hill Country ranch, and chain accents hung from brackets of old angle iron.

The Loft

A converted warehouse near downtown

"This is where I do my thinking, designing, fabricating and wine drinking; mostly in that order." Exposed ductwork, conduit on the walls and pipes running the length of the loft make it the perfect backdrop for Bobby's work.

He has built two guardrails, a raised theater platform, light fixtures, shelves "and on and on". The furniture is rather unique too: Indian antiques, Pakistani rosewood and Persian carpets, collected during the years abroad.

See the loft →