Bobby McAlpine, LIVE, on The Skirted Roundtable, this week!

I can hardly wait to hear the latest interview on the Skirted Roundtable featuring one of my favorite architects of all time, Bobby McAlpine.

Joni , of Cote de Texas fame, and I were emailing recently. I was responding to her statement that he is one of her design heroes of all time.  I told her that he is one of my all time favorites as well.

I wanted to congratulate her on the opportunity to talk with him on their wonderful online program.

Joni, Megan and Linda have talked design and life with some amazing people in the last year or so, but for me, personally, this one is exceptionally exciting!

 

Honestly, I have had this page and the following pages attached to it, in my files for years - since 1996, to be exact, when it was in Southern Accents. 

This one, too, an article about the home of designer Cindy Smith,  in Charlotte, North Carolina and her work with Bobby McAlpine..  It was in a Southern Accents issue from 1993!

This is the interior of the home - I loved it then and I still love it! Classic and handsome.

 

 While McAlpine Tankersley has had lots of press coverage over the years, people are quite excited about Bobby's new book, The Home Within Us. I couldn't wait to read it, and think it stands alone in the world of design books. While the interiors are beautiful, it is the depth and substance of Bobby's design philosophy that make this book so real and so special. I really look forward to putting a voice to these words.

I know I have been known to call more than one architect my favorite. I don't make that statement lightly, though. I really do have a handful of favorites.

Some are familiar Texas architects, Michael Imber,  David Lake and Ted Flato, of San Antonio.

Some are my friends, like Jon Pankratz  and Reagan George,  both of  Dallas and Fredericksburg, and Craig Kinney of San Angelo.

Some are architects  I have followed  from afar, literally for years - reading books, magazines, anything I could get my hands on to glean more from their work.  O'Neil Ford, 

Frank Welch,  Hays Town,  Hugh Newell Jacobson, and Bobby McAlpine are all architects whose work I am drawn to, flipping through design magazines, recognizing the pull and excitement I often feel when I spot an aesthetic I love,  sometimes before I even know it is their work.

So, check on the Skirted Roundtable  for the interview one day this week, pour yourself a cup of coffee and sit down for a listen. 

I know I will be listening, maybe more than once,  and loving every minute of it.

House Dreams

While I have had the good fortune to live in this hill country house for the past four years, I find myself dreaming of designing a house for the next stage in our life. We will be empty nesters in a few years, and our needs will change.

This house is classic Texas hill country and has been a very special home to inhabit. Our girls have had a blast here entertaining their friends  - swimming, playing hide and seek, playing basketball, roasting marshmallows, and having backyard birthday celebrations. We have had good times as well, but the house is too big for the two of us. Another family needs it now.

Hill Country House is for sale.

The house is situated 4 miles outside of town. It is the perfect distance - country skies filled with stars at night and not a city light around, but close enough to run to the grocery store when you forget something. 

If you are interested in living here, or know someone who is, contact me and I will give you sales information.

So............

I know I want something smaller. It is no secret that I like too many things and too many styles, though.  I believe in building appropriately for the setting, and in Texas that can mean a southwestern or hill country style,  or a home with a Mexican influence.  There are many styles and choices. I dream of soft contemporary..........something like this:

Dallas home designed by Lake Flato

or even more modern, like this.....

Lake Flato

or sort of traditional modern, like this..........

Jon Pankratz, AIA

or let's throw in some Southern influence, or would it be Mediterranean?.........

I apologize for no credit info -  saved in my favorites file

or this............

Craig Kinney architect

or maybe really hill country, like this.....................

 Lake Flato

or subtle and nestled in the trees, waiting to be discovered............like this.......

 Reagan George, AIA

Confused? Me too.

Thoughts, ideas welcome.

Painted Floors

I posted a month or so ago about my kitchen dilemma - to paint or not to paint, that was the question I put out there.  Unlike some of the "big bloggers", I do not get tons and tons of comments every time I post. That is fine - I am regional (except when I travel and can't help myself) ,  and pretty random in my topics. I blog because I love the process and the sharing with like minded souls, so I don't really worry too much about how many comments I get each time.

It is fun to see what topics people respond to and are passionate about, though.

So, with the kitchen post, I certainly found out how to get more comments - ask people for advice! I loved each and every comment and have seriously considered all suggestions. So here it is - 2010 and I am still debating over the kitchen and what to do with it.

I think I had better tell you the whole truth now.

Our house is for FOR SALE...... so I am not sure this is the best time to make such a major change. With the way my life goes, I would paint the kitchen some fabulously wild color combination like this.............

and just the almost right buyer would come along and say "oh, if only she hadn't painted all that beautiful antique long leaf pine" and the deal would fall through.

I thought about a safe, but still lovely, color like this ...... (I have the black counter tops)

but I am not sure the flow is right with my dining room which looks like this..............

with the blues and greens and aged beaded board ceiling.........

Sooooo, my next thought is, painted floors! I love them and here are some of my favorites.

Love this large design like a hex sign from a barn in the northeast.

Big stripes would be fun.

 

Of course, painted floors might not be to someone's liking, either. I have mixed feelings about making changes to my house. Sometimes I think it doesn't matter - that we should do what we love and when the time comes for someone else to live here, they can do what they love.

Other times I worry about the whole "resale factor" and it really goes against who I am. Some people can live in a fairly vanilla house, or one that is safely decorated, but it is so not me. I am constantly moving furniture and accessories around and wanting to change things. I sell things out of my house and at antique shows, and then come home with new things.

I think about space and how we use it, and want to create rooms that are warm and functional and make me happy to live in them.  I think a home is a huge reflection of the people who live there. I know I am stating the obvious to anyone who is reading this, but there are people out there - I know them - who just want a nice, clean house to live in, but their passions lie elsewhere. I am not them.

So, do I follow my heart, and paint those floors or cabinets, or just the island, whatever - have some fun with it all,  or sit tight and wait for that person to come along who adores ALL the old pine and rock and antique, scraped dark floors and doesn't have that fundamental need for color?

Then I can design my own house and make it just like I want it - maybe something like this from Jon Pankratz, AIA......

 

or this, from my new friend and another favorite architect, Reagan George, AIA........

yes, another hill country house, but smaller and and tucked into the woods somewhere, designed just

 perfectly for my art and treasures.

Or maybe something like this...........

 old and quaint and distinctly old German Fredericksburg..........

so, my dilemma continues. Of course, comments and opinions are always welcome!!

All photos either from House Beautiful or from my collected files. I apologize that I do not have photographer credits.

"Let Jon do his thing"

We are all guilty of it in one form or another. Making quick judgements based on first impressions is a fault of human nature. While I love the work of my favorite architect, Jon Pankratz, when he designed and built his own house, like so many times when we judge too quickly, I did not understand it. It was definitely not love at first sight for me.


It's not my house, though, and I am sure he really didn't care if I fell in love with his house! The house is home to Jon and his wife, Marilee, and to hear the story of how it came to be is endearing and fascinating.....AND like so many times in life, once you get to know someone or someplace, your perception can change dramatically.

I asked Jon to tell me about his house - how he chose the style and why it sits as it does on piers on the side of a hill. Here is how our conversation went:

Tell me about the site and how you chose to place the house as you did.

We sat on the site for three years (Mar in a hammock) and I slowly began to realize a structure that responded to the site conditions - I wanted it to sit on the ground like a butterfly sits on a flower - lightly - so the piers raising the floor off the ground did this for us - minimal site impact. The plan of the house was totally dictated by the site and how we chose to live in the spaces. The site slopes 16 feet from the front of the carport to the bottom earth under the deck/dining/living areas.

Why did you choose to design something so very contemporary, rather than a modern, yet still traditional house, like you design for clients?

Well, to tell you the truth, my lovely wife gave me full range on this one. Marilee tells a story that when our dear friend, Frank Welch, heard we were planning to build a house, he told her "Marilee, just let Jon do his own thing". I am truly a modernist at heart and had a great teacher in Frank. I love designing the others, but not like the ones I seldom get to do - MODERN. A big influence in my current practice is Glenn Murcutt, an Australian architect. He also touches the earth very lightly in his projects.


Note: If you want to know more about Jon's inspiration, do a Google search on Glenn Marcutt. I couldn't begin to do justice to this amazing architect. There is a ton of information that is so interesting!

Your furnishings are very minimal, but I know from visiting, very comfortable. Tell me about those woven chairs.

They are Aalto Pension chairs from the Dallas Design Center.

And the collection of art in the entry hall?

The collection on the wall is by Sam Gummelt from Dallas. The long vertical painting is also by Sam and the small work in the square black frame is by Geoffrey Lardiere.

Aalto Pension chairs and view of front door and entry hall

Small sitting area accessed by living room. There are benches on either side of the fireplace for a quiet spot to read or enjoy the view.

What about your sofa? You obviously chose with a very careful eye.

Our sofa is an Albert sectional leather sofa from Design Within Reach.

Talk to me about your inspiration for the kitchen and the materials used.

The cabinets are BC grade yellow pine plywood and the cabinet doors are MDF (medium density fiberboard) . The counter tops are concrete and the back splash is India slate. My inspiration was to meet a budget. All of these materials are inexpensive and give a great and different look.

What a peaceful bedroom with an incredible view of the hills and woods. What about this furniture?

The bed is from the Zola Collection at Design Within Reach. The floating side tables are by Rex White, an amazing craftsman here in Fredericksburg.



When I finished my conversation with Jon, I had a new perspective on his house. He designed from his heart, he built what he wanted to build, regardless of how conventional many are. He designed a unique home for himself and his sweet wife, and it fits them perfectly.

I must say, as much as I love all of my collections, textiles, art and books.......the list goes on - there is a tranquil feeling upon entering Jon and Marilee's home, and it is a welcome rest for the visitor. Their careful and focused choice of furnishings reflect their personalities. They have great taste and each piece is special and meaningful to them. I love their new house and all that I have learned about it! Thank you, Jon.

I did a little research on Glenn Murcutt and his design philosophy and work are fascinating. Here is an excerpt from the NY Times that I believe captures what Jon admires about this architect.

What all of Murcutt’s work shares is a conception of architecture as minimal intervention, yielding buildings so efficient, and so deft in their design, that they hardly feel like buildings at all, though they provide all the comforts of more conventional edifices. At their best, they’re as controlled and powerful as a sonnet: dozens of considerations seem to click neatly into place, yielding a single, surprisingly simple structure.

I love that. I think it describes the Pankratz home completely and only wish I had penned it myself!

My Favorite Architect

From a Mexican hacienda to a quaint English cottage, I love architecture.......... I LOVE architecture. It's a passion I was born with, I think. Truly, for as long as I can remember, I have been interested in and drawn to certain styles of homes and buildings.

The style that I have loved and been attracted to my entire life, though - the style that feels like home and makes me smile from within - is that of Texas Modernism.

Texas Modernism refers to a style of design that not only uses materials native to Texas, but also to characteristics indigenous to the region, with roots from early Texas homes. These homes do not have excessive ornamentation, but while simple, are elegant in their design. Much thought is given to the orientation of these houses regarding ventilation and cross breezes, natural light and warmth, as well as cooling shade.

My friend, Jon Pankratz, AIA, comes from a long line of "descendants", if you will, of great Texas modernists. From one of the the most well known Texas architects, O'Neil Ford, to Jon's mentor and close friend, Frank Welch, to having some similarities to San Antonio architects, David Lake and Ted Flato, Jon has developed a style of his own that is both classic and unique.

Jon attended Texas A&M University for both undergraduate and graduate study, receiving his undergraduate degree in Environmental Design and Masters degree in Building Design. He worked for Frank Welch for 15 years before starting his own firm in Dallas in 1994.

I met Jon in 1994 when I drove by a great looking house in Dallas that was under construction - of course, being the house addict that I am, I had to stop and ask for details - and it happened to be his first project "on his own".

The rest is history. Not long after that day I began to refer to Jon as "my favorite architect" and to this day, he remains so.


Jon and his wife, Marilee, moved to Fredericksburg shortly after we did and have become dear friends over the years. I have loved following Jon's work and think it so appropriate to share here. This house is one of his most recent projects and perfectly exemplifies a Texas hill country modern house , built of native limestone and quietly embraced by the surrounding hills.

Although this home can be seen from a distance, it blends in beautifully with the landscape.

Jon's designs stretch from Dallas to Fredericksburg, and beyond into South Texas. His most recent works dot the Texas hill country. He has designed homes and weekend lake houses for friends and friends of friends. His best advertising is word of mouth. While his work is steeped in Texas modernism, it is always unique to each setting and the personality and needs of his clients. I quote the mother of the woman who shares this house with her family - "Jon got it perfect. Every square inch of that house is just right for Carol and her family " - Yep! that would be my favorite architect!



Native limestone, wide covered porches and standing seam metal roofs are classic characteristics of this style. The pool, crisp and clean in design, is a focal point for this home. Not only is it lovely aesthetically, but provides a cool relief from the Texas heat. (If you want to see greater detail, click on the photos. It is worth your time to see more of this stunning house.)


Open air pavilions and loggias are often designed to capture light and warmth from the sun during the winter, and to catch cool breezes and shade in the summer. Inside and outside become one with the use of porches, closely grouped buildings, and courtyards. Jon created a beautiful outdoor space for this family, whether they are enjoying the pool on a hot Texas day or sitting by a fire on a chilly evening.



One of the characteristics of many of Jon's designs are separate spaces that are attached to the main home, but function on their own. I love how the small building is part of the overall design, but distinctively separate from the main house.

Natural materials like brick and wood, and lots of natural light make this loggia classic to Jon's design aesthetic.

A beamed ceiling , more interior brick and hardwood floors make this house perfect for either traditional or contemporary furnishings.

I love the arches over the openings and the use of interior brick throughout the house.

The kitchen is warm and traditional in materials, but contemporary in it's clean lines.

If you are interested in seeing more of Jon's work, or want to contact him, please let me know in the comments section and I will send you his contact information. I do plan to feature more of his designs as well as those of other Texas modernists.