By BARBARA GREEN
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Kenson Vance is a shrewd businessman, but he also has a desire to develop affordable housing for a community as well as help serve those with special needs.
Vance calls himself a realtor and developer. Making his home in Alvord, he has been working in Bowie the past several years first doing several house “flips.” Two years ago he put in one of the first tiny house projects on the corner of South Mason and Clay Streets. He and a silent partner operate under the name Dynamic Duo.
Bowie was not new to Vance as he grew up enjoying a family home on Lake Amon Carter. In 2020 as the tiny home project was completed, Vance told The Bowie News he feels like he has been part of Bowie all his life, and he loves it. He said trying to do small developments and affordable housing, sale or rental, in Wise County had become cost-prohibitive, especially in Decatur. He has found Bowie to be very open and accommodating.
“We did a couple of flips here, and then when the tornado came we had some bigger ideas. I came up and volunteered for a few weeks, and so did Dana Kilgore, my property manager. Being in real estate I would take people with certain budgets and try to find them something, but we could only find junk, so we started building houses,” explained Vance.
His most recent building projects are using a material not that common in small-town Texas for residential homes, insulated concrete forms.
Dave Cougston oversees Vance’s local construction, and he has been working with ICFs for more than 20 years. Cougston had been building large mansions which are not appropriate to the primary market in Bowie, but these two men see ICFs as a strong alternative to “stick houses.”
“I don’t know why anyone is building houses out of wood anymore,” explained Cougston. “This is such a superior product as far as safety, going greener and creating a healthier home.”

Vance also is working closely with Evergreen Life Services to develop a new facility in Bowie that can assist people with special needs, something that is very close to his heart.

Read the full feature in the weekend Bowie News.