Trish B. Houck, a former journalism teacher who became a kitchen designer and founder of Kitchen Concepts, died Sunday of a heart attack at her Ellicott City home. She was 74.
"I think there were three elements that made her successful," said Baltimore interior designer Alex Baer, with whom she worked through the years. "She was sensitive to her clients' needs, understood their problems and made each kitchen totally different.
"She was also a genuinely generous individual. She never wanted to be thanked. Whatever she did came from her heart," said Mr. Baer, whose firm is Jenkins-Baer.
"Trish was such a wonderful person, and I was one of her first kitchens. She was fabulous and the business just grew and grew," said Fredye Wright Gross.
"I loved working with her because she had great style and knew the latest things in the field and in kitchen design," said Ms. Gross, who lives in Baltimore County's Murray Hill neighborhood with her husband, architect Adam Gross.
The daughter of Fritz Bagley, a highway supervisor, and Malouf Bagley, a postal worker, Trish Bagley was born and raised in Bakersfield, Calif.
She graduated in 1959 from Bakersfield High School, where she edited the Blue and White, the school paper. She enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley, where she earned a bachelor's degree in English in 1963.
Ms. Houck taught journalism at Sir Francis Drake High School in San Anselmo, Calif., from 1963 to 1971. She came to Baltimore in 1982 when her then-husband, James I. Houck, was named managing editor of The Baltimore Sun.
"She was intrigued by kitchen design since remodeling one of her own and another for her friend. She apprenticed for a year and then went off on her own, managing a business and a family of three children," said her former husband, who stepped down as managing editor in 1991 and now lives in Visalia, Calif.
She established Kitchen Concepts by Trish Houck in a 100-year-old farmhouse in Ellicott City that she had remodeled. For more than 30 years, she designed and installed hundreds of kitchens and baths, mainly in Baltimore but also in Manhattan; Long Island, N.Y.; Virginia Beach, Va.; Florida; Colorado; and California.
"I first got to know Trish at the kitchen and bath convention that was held in Philadelphia," said Kip Keperling, president and owner of Prevo Cabinetry in Ephrata, Pa.
"I was rather skeptical about Trish because I thought, 'What does this former journalist know about kitchen design?' but she picked it up and ran with it and became very successful," he said. "Her clients became friends, and that was true with us. She was able to turn business relationships into friendships."
She incorporated work by Prevo Cabinetry, which became a major supplier, into her designs for years.
Ms. Houck's work was featured in many regional and national interior design publications, and she explained to writers that her success was due to being a good listener.
She employed her journalism skills to interview clients to make sure she understood, in detail, how they would use their kitchen and what they wanted in it.
Ms. Houck then created sketches and working drawings.
"It was like going to your therapist. Trish was able to get inside your head and see what you wanted," said Ms. Gross.
"She was able to get inside of people's heads to see how their kitchens would reflect their needs — whether you were a woman or a man. She wanted the kitchen to work for you, and she could adapt to your lifestyle," said Ms. Gross.
"She gave you choices but she also had firm opinions on how the job should be done," said Ms. Gross. "We've lost a wonderful designer."
"She had a real gift for creativity and worked well with clients," said Mr. Keperling.
The trend in kitchen design was making them look "less like a kitchen and more like a room," Ms. Houck told The Baltimore Sun in a 2000 interview.
She said that "more and more men are cooking, and I wonder if [that fact] has anything to do with the trend for commercial appliances. In the kitchens I do, at least 90 percent of the situations where it's a man cooking, they go with commercial equipment."
Ms. Houck added that kitchens were becoming more colorful, with cabinets stained green or gray, and that limestone floors were becoming popular and common elements in kitchens.
"She was one of the first local designers to use granite and other natural materials when builders were still using cultured materials," said Mr. Houck. "Granite, she told clients, was difficult and sometimes more expensive, but she added, 'It's one of a kind. You won't see your countertop in someone else's kitchen.'"
Ms. Houck spared no expense in using materials and expert artisans and woodworkers.
"She became No. 1 in sales for us for many, many years," said Mr. Keperling. "Trish was good at listening to people and she was very creative with her kitchen designs, which were extremely functional. They were never cookie-cutter. They were unique and one of kind."
Ms. Houck was not retired at her death.
A private memorial service will be held July 26.
Ms. Houck is survived by her son, Christopher Houck of Ellicott City; two daughters, Caroline Houck and Amanda Houck, both of Ellicott City; a sister, Audrey Brown of Oceanside, Calif.; and four grandchildren.