Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: Automotive Shop Becomes an Artful Warehouse Home
An artist and her husband turn a former auto transmission facility into a warm, light-filled home and studio
When designer Heather Rowell signed up for a printmaking class in graduate school, she never imagined it would lead to one of the most challenging and innovative design projects of her career. Rowell became good friends with Karin Broker, an artist and professor of printmaking at Rice University. Rowell designed an art studio for Broker on her farm in Magnolia, Texas, then “a few years later Karin called and said she had found this run-down transmission shop she wanted to transform into their residence and studio,” Rowell says. “It was a first for us.”
The home avoids an overly industrial feel thanks to the use of natural materials — oak cabinets, native Texas flagstone walls — and an eclectic mix of furnishings, some reclaimed from the clients’ farm.
“They wanted to be very true to all the materials we used,” Rowell says. “So any time we brought wood in, Karin was adamant she didn’t want it painted. The warmth of the wood and the fact that the cabinetry is Shaker style, not modern flat-panel, make the industrial feel more familiar and warmer.”
The couple are also very utilitarian, Rowell says, and they “wanted durable finishes that are classic.” Her firm designed the oak cabinets; the open shelves were inspired by some the clients had made themselves for a previous home, with threaded rods supporting wooden planks. The stainless steel countertops are edged in wood.
“Karin is a printmaker, so a lot of the surfaces in her studio are stainless,” Rowell says. “That surface makes her feel at home.” The floor is the original concrete warehouse floor, polished and sealed.
“They wanted to be very true to all the materials we used,” Rowell says. “So any time we brought wood in, Karin was adamant she didn’t want it painted. The warmth of the wood and the fact that the cabinetry is Shaker style, not modern flat-panel, make the industrial feel more familiar and warmer.”
The couple are also very utilitarian, Rowell says, and they “wanted durable finishes that are classic.” Her firm designed the oak cabinets; the open shelves were inspired by some the clients had made themselves for a previous home, with threaded rods supporting wooden planks. The stainless steel countertops are edged in wood.
“Karin is a printmaker, so a lot of the surfaces in her studio are stainless,” Rowell says. “That surface makes her feel at home.” The floor is the original concrete warehouse floor, polished and sealed.
The homeowners wanted “mostly open space,” Rowell says, but the designers didn’t want air ducts and vents out in the open. They found a solution by adding thickness to the exterior walls, which allowed for extra insulation and a space for the ducts. They lowered the ceiling above the kitchen area to give it a cozier feel and to provide concealed space for vents and other mechanicals. The 10-foot-long pecan dining table was made by a friend of the homeowners.
The light well is a tower-shaped portion in the center of the house that punctures the roofline. The clerestory windows around it allow light to enter and flow down. Because the interior walls here don’t reach to the ceiling, the light spills over into adjoining rooms.
Inside the light well is a small office, fireplace and TV area, seen here. (The television is hidden behind the cabinets above the glass fireplace.) Across from the TV and fireplace wall (not visible in this photo), French doors made of steel and glass open to the master bedroom. The double-sided gas fireplace extends through to the living room on the other side of the wall.
Inside the light well is a small office, fireplace and TV area, seen here. (The television is hidden behind the cabinets above the glass fireplace.) Across from the TV and fireplace wall (not visible in this photo), French doors made of steel and glass open to the master bedroom. The double-sided gas fireplace extends through to the living room on the other side of the wall.
In the living room, Texas limestone “adds some warmth,” Rowell says. “In the evening, that wall will start glowing because the western light comes in through the clerestories and floods down over the fireplace.” The hearth is a piece of bent steel the designers had made for the space. Broker created the large charcoal drawings on the far wall. The ceiling beam is part of the original structure.
The master bedroom is modest in size compared with the rest of the home, but it’s flooded with light from the glass and steel doors that open into the light well. At the back of the bedroom, barn doors on sliding tracks seal off the walk-in closet (to the left) and the bathroom (to the right). Broker is “very careful in how she curates her spaces,” Rowell says. “She makes them feel very purposeful and unique.”
The big clawfoot tub is new. The homeowners found the rack, sanded down its sharp hooks, painted it and decided to use it for hanging robes and towels. “The materials in the house are very utilitarian,” Rowell says. “We used lots of subway tile throughout.” The step at the back of the room leads to the doorless shower.
The marble vanity is on the wall directly behind the headboard in the master bedroom. Doors on either side of the vanity lead to the closet on one side and the tub, toilet and shower on the other. Broker and Witte keep toiletries and other bathroom accessories in the white enamel containers underneath the sink to reduce clutter.
Shaker-style doors in the closet lend the warmth and traditional feel that balance the industrial origins of the home.
The guest bedroom was originally intended as an office, but the clients decided they wanted a place inside the main home for guests to stay. The designers dropped the wall on the left to allow light from the entryway into the room. The wall facing the bed is also lower so light comes in from the light well in the center of the house.
Numerous skylights also flood the building with light. Steel doors to the studio and white walls help spread the light to adjacent spaces.
As for any remnants of the building’s auto shop days, Rowell says the homeowners had the site tested and that all the old materials were either replaced or refinished.
“We took everything out down to the metal structure,” she says. “There wasn’t much left that could have been contaminated. All the interior walls, insulation, ducts, wiring — everything is completely new. We cleaned and resealed the concrete floors too.”
The two lighter squares on the concrete floor of the studio mark the spot where the car lifts stood in the former shop. The owners left them as is when the floors were polished and sealed because they “were part of the natural patina of the building,” Rowell says.
Recently the American Institute of Architects gave the project a 2016 AIA Houston Design Award for Renovation/Restoration.
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“We took everything out down to the metal structure,” she says. “There wasn’t much left that could have been contaminated. All the interior walls, insulation, ducts, wiring — everything is completely new. We cleaned and resealed the concrete floors too.”
The two lighter squares on the concrete floor of the studio mark the spot where the car lifts stood in the former shop. The owners left them as is when the floors were polished and sealed because they “were part of the natural patina of the building,” Rowell says.
Recently the American Institute of Architects gave the project a 2016 AIA Houston Design Award for Renovation/Restoration.
Browse more homes by style:
Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Houzz at a Glance
Location: Houston
Who lives here: Mark Witte and Karin Broker
Designers: Heather Rowell, Jesse Hager and Eric Hughes of Content Architecture
This 6,000-square-foot warehouse provided several challenges, including finding ways to bring light into the center of the deep building. Designer Heather Rowell and partner Jesse Hager helped solve the problem with a light well. An elevated section of roof with clerestory windows wrapping beneath it, seen here on the center right side of the main building, allows light to flood the interior. Light also comes in through floor-to-ceiling windows that formerly had been doors for the automotive shop. Skylights also bring in light.
The entrance door is in the center of the main building. To the left of the door is an art studio for homeowner Karin Broker; everything to the right of the entrance is home space. A breezeway and courtyard on the right side of the main building connect to a separate building that houses a bedroom, kitchen, laundry room and additional art studio. The idea is that one day Broker and husband Mark Witte, a commercial building developer, will rent the unit out or turn it into an office.
Broker and Witte wanted low-maintenance landscaping inspired by that of the Kimbell Art Museum in Forth Worth, Texas. They settled on planting eight oak trees on a gravel bed. As the trees grow, they’ll provide shade for the western side of the home.