TIN CITY: The magic of metal wins over Houston home buyers

HOUSTON -- Metal is hot in Houston.

The NY Times and Chicago Tribune has called it 'the most important architectural movement ever born in Houston.'

Once loved only by the city's avant-garde, "Tin Houses" are winning over all kinds of home buyers in Houston now.

"It used to be I couldn't talk anyone into this. Now they are so popular I can't talk anyone out of it," says Cameron Armstrong, an award-winning architect who has designed dozens of metal homes in Houston and across the nation.

"There are more metal houses here in Houston than anywhere else in the America."

Chris Hallard, owner of Memorial Park Properties agrees. One of Cameron's metal masterpieces in the West End was on the market last month. "I sold it in one day' Chris said. "People love them."

Cameron designed and built his first tin home in 1992.

"It started when my wife assigned me the very important project of designing a house for her. We wanted it to last forever, which is a pretty big goal. So we went through a list of all the materials you could use on a building, and we marked things off. Brick heats it up, wood rots, stucco makes it get moldy," Cameron said. "And we ended up with only one thing left on our list, which was metal. I've been in love with metal ever since."

Cameron says his clients like tin homes for their practicality, energy efficiency and durability.

"Bulletproof is too strong of a word, but the material is really, really durable," Cameron said. "These metals have warranties of 20-30 years and you can't get that from any other material, it's just not possible."