Stuart Residence
This project is located within the Houston Heights, a vibrant historic neighborhood, featuring early 1900’s arts and crafts bungalows.
The clients, long time Heights residents, requested a new contemporary house that is compatible with the neighborhood and presents a modest face to the street. With roots in Latin America and California, the design challenge became adapting the client’s love for outdoor living and entertainment to Houston’s hot, humid climate.
A series of four exterior courtyards, typical of Latin homes, define the house - front court, pool court, screened porch court, and a rear private court, each of which fronts distinct interior zones. The arrangement of these spaces takes advantage of the unusually deep urban lot. Visitors pass through the front and pool courts before entering the house.
The front facing garage and main living area, separated by a breezeway, are each 24 feet wide, continuing the massing and rhythm of existing homes on the block face. The two story portion of the house, with its east-west axis allowing for cross ventilation, is located towards the rear of the lot, minimizing visual impact from the street. Exposed stained exterior roof framing compliments the neighborhood’s existing arts and crafts construction.
The first floor living area features an open plan with vaulted ceilings and crisscrossing collar rafters. These rafters cantilever 5 feet beyond the exterior wall, forming a column free canopy that shades the east exposure. By day, natural light is ample to light the entire space. At night, the space is bathed in soothing indirect LED up lighting located on top of the collar rafters. Energy efficiency is further achieved throughout the house by wide overhangs, minimal west glazing, and sealed construction. The screened porch, a simple solution to Houston’s heat and mosquitoes, is oriented to capture the prevailing southeast summer breeze.
The clients, long time Heights residents, requested a new contemporary house that is compatible with the neighborhood and presents a modest face to the street. With roots in Latin America and California, the design challenge became adapting the client’s love for outdoor living and entertainment to Houston’s hot, humid climate.
A series of four exterior courtyards, typical of Latin homes, define the house - front court, pool court, screened porch court, and a rear private court, each of which fronts distinct interior zones. The arrangement of these spaces takes advantage of the unusually deep urban lot. Visitors pass through the front and pool courts before entering the house.
The front facing garage and main living area, separated by a breezeway, are each 24 feet wide, continuing the massing and rhythm of existing homes on the block face. The two story portion of the house, with its east-west axis allowing for cross ventilation, is located towards the rear of the lot, minimizing visual impact from the street. Exposed stained exterior roof framing compliments the neighborhood’s existing arts and crafts construction.
The first floor living area features an open plan with vaulted ceilings and crisscrossing collar rafters. These rafters cantilever 5 feet beyond the exterior wall, forming a column free canopy that shades the east exposure. By day, natural light is ample to light the entire space. At night, the space is bathed in soothing indirect LED up lighting located on top of the collar rafters. Energy efficiency is further achieved throughout the house by wide overhangs, minimal west glazing, and sealed construction. The screened porch, a simple solution to Houston’s heat and mosquitoes, is oriented to capture the prevailing southeast summer breeze.
Project Year: 2016
Country: United States
