Here’s a look inside Bill Baldwin’s feature in the October issue of Modern Luxury…
Where are you from? Like most “Greater Houstonians”, where I’m from is various neighborhoods in the greater Houston area. I spent my earliest years near, and sometimes literally on, the University of Houston Campus as my father was a football coach there, then the Meadows in southwest Houston. I came of age in Huntsville, where I lived from my Junior High years until in moved to the Heights in late 1998.
Do you own a Mercedes-Benz? What is your favorite Mercedes-Benz model? While I don’t currently own a Mercedes, my uber stylish boyfriend who I adore loves his 2018 C 300 Performance Cabriolet, so that is naturally my favorite model too. When I think Mercedes, I think the perfect marriage of classic elegance with an evolving, modern sensibility and function.
What do you like best about your job and day to day? I love my job because it gives me the ability to interact with an array of amazing individuals, homesites and neighborhoods each and every day. My role as a realtor really calls for me to serve as a trusted advisor. As a local entrepreneur who deals in homes, development, the design of our shared urban environment, I’ve learned to balance a long, wide view of what’s best for individual homeowners with the quality of life issues of our great city. Plus, I get to watch those day-to-day concerns shift over time.
What is your favorite fall fashion trend for men? Pocket squares! For someone whose job is decidedly local, I’ve managed to see quite a bit of the world in the last few years and I have amassed such an impressive pocket square collection that it’s time for me to push the envelope in how we use them. After all, I only wear a suit about once or twice a week these days. Be on the lookout for creative uses of pocket squares… you heard it here first!
How would you describe your style? I would say my style is conservative urbanist. Urbanist in that I try to predominantly support local makers and brands, and that I am constantly on the go. Conservative in that I believe in having a full wardrobe with classic pieces and being able to hit my mark as a professional man and city appointee. My style is my own. Real estate and construction lend themselves to an active lifestyle, so I am usually as comfortable and casual as can be, but for me that doesn’t mean I get to wear the jeans and Henley’s I’d really like to wear.
What is your involvement in the Houston community? My involvement in Houston is virtually endless. I truly love Houston. It’s virtually all I think about. As a Planning Commissioner, I have to have a command of nearly every corner of Houston so that I can help decide its best use as a building block to a great city. That means studying great cities. The pillars of both my personal life and my company are social responsibility, public-private partnership and civic duty. From the AIDS Foundation Houston to Recipe for Success to the Epilepsy Foundation or the Houston Heights Association and others. I believe it is my company Boulevard Realty’s responsibility to give back to the city that has been so good to us. I am able to amplify my voice as a citizen through my civic and community endeavors and join others with amazing public interest and private efforts.
What is your favorite weekend activity? What do you do for fun? As with every other morning, I start the weekend by reading from front to back the Houston Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times over exactly two cups of coffee. There really is nothing I enjoy as much as this longtime ritual. I follow that with a long bike ride around the city, usually doing some speed work, and often stopping by some of my favorite local shops, before returning home to my beloved neighborhood and home to get ready for work. After all, I do work 7 days a week.
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