Story:

The moment I stepped on the lot, I was inspired by the sense of natural space — almost forced — as if something very powerful stretched a 3 acre lot into a 7 acre lot leaving a perfect homesite in a natural clearing. I knew the home should respect this powerful force and so the owner transplanted a modern vision that stretched horizontally to create indoor/outdoor space and vertically to create intimate and elongated indoor space. It is Pangaea — the natural world before man.

Location:

Bulverde, Texas (Designed 2009; Built 2010)

Idea:

diverging continental plates

Personalized new home!

Stats:

3,007 SF; 3BR, 3 BA, 3-car garage, 603 SF deck, 1-story

Client’s Style:

modern southwest

Services:

The Sketch, The Details, The Docs, The Advisor

Lifestyle Features:

• two-tier living space: one area for lounging and a second for gaming
• large private master split from living areas to keep bedrooms private
• walk-thru master shower with integral window seat for a full-body experience
• toilet and bidet alcove to allow private use
• floating cabinets to give the illustion of stretched growth
• mudroom to separate garage from house and improve indoor air quality
• exclusive kitchen to separate formal dining from food preparation, but also allow intimate island dining
• two guest suites with private baths and walk-in showers to give guests privacy

Environment Solutions:

• full-height windows with operable awnings to give great views and capture seasonal breezes
• custom horizontal awning to screen deck areas and provide a living sculpture
• low slope metal roof to shade walls and provide future solar panel attachment for any adjustable angle
• roof slopes one direction to install gutter for efficient future water capture
• low maintenance integral-color stucco and fiber cement siding for long-life exterior finish
• large vinyl awning and single-hung windows to allow air flow with low e2 glass to reduce heat gain
• engineered wood floor in the kitchen to provide long-lasting, low-maintenance finish
• stained concrete floors throughout (except kitchen) for low-maintenance earthy finish
• mechanical room in conditioned space to preseve equipment and more efficiently heat and cool
• permeable paving and pavers to allow water infiltration

Community Influence:

• stucco material to symbolize a large mass that moved when the land/home evolved
• horizontal siding (4″ and 6″) to symbolize the vertical stretch that created the space inside
• different width windows pulled apart by the stretching force that created the home
• low lying roof to lay below the tree line and conceal the home in the forest
• southwest color (mustard, sienna, brick) to emulate natural wildflowers
• floating cantilever decks, awnings and window seats to reinforce the horizontal elements

Images: