Designing a Kaleidoscope of Homes Show House

Simmons Estate Homes project for the 2010 Kaleidoscope of Homes show

Every once in a while, if you are lucky, you get to work an a project that takes your career to a new level. About a year ago I had the opportunity to sit down with Scott Simmons of Simmons Estate Homes and design a jewel of a house with him. This house would eventually be Scott's entry into the 2010 Kaleidoscope of Homes show, a luxury home tour that has been running in the DFW are for twenty years now. Our plans for this house were grand- we intended from the very 1st meeting to design something of lasting impression, and in my mind, a work of art. In most respects, I think we succeeded.

Scott was fairly certain that he wanted to do something of mediterranean influence. However, we both wanted to avoid the trendy "Tuscan" design that had been overdone in our area. In researching the various forms of and styles of architecture, we came across the works of George Washington Smith, an Architect in the Santa Barbara region of California from the early 1900's. Smith's houses were defined as  a style called "Spanish Colonial Revival", and we both knew that the aesthetics of this style were what we wanted to express in our design.

Front Terrace and Fountain

Outdoor Living Room looking towards the Pool

I poured over books detailing Smith's houses from both the exterior and interior. They were based on simple farmhouses of the Andalusian region of Spain, and yet, Smith was able to interject details of the Spanish Baroque movement in key areas. The massing of his homes were both simple and sophisticated at the same time. I made careful sketches and studies of the proportions that Smith employed in his designs and, to the best of my abilities, attempted to stay true to that aesthetic. We also took a very deliberate and careful approach to outdoor spaces. Our design makes use of three very significant ones. To the front is a large terrace with a fountain and a freestanding fireplace. Large trees were planted to the southwest of this terrace to provide some natural shade during the day, although it's uncovered nature will probably keep it from being heavily used during the day in mid-summer, it is still a fantastic space and one that people have used extensively during the cooler weather of the show in October.

Probably the most significant outdoor space is the main Outdoor Living Room, which is located right next to the Great Room in the house. The front door lines up with the center arch, and provides a fantastic line of sight from the foyer all the way through the fountain at the pool and beyond to the water display behind the property. Another interesting feature is a large 6 panel sliding french door system. All 18 feet of this door system separating the Great Room from the Outdoor Living Room slides into wall pockets and lets the two spaces flow seamlessly with each other.

Below are some additional photos of the exterior and interior of the house. As of today, the finished house is a total of 9500 s.f. (a/c) and has 5 bedroom (including the one in the 600 s.f. separate Guest House) 6 full baths and 2 half baths, a Catering Kitchen in addition to the main Kitchen, 4 car Garage, downstairs Billiard Room, upstairs Play Room (with Popcorn Bar) and a private Wine Room and Wet Bar with adjacent Patio. Should you have a chance, do come out to the show and tour this house for yourself- I consider it one of my finest works to date. 

Night view of the Back of the house and the Outdoor Living Room

Great Room

Gallery

Spanish Mission styled arch opening to Library

Study looking towards freestanding staircase at Tower

Billiard Room and Wet Bar

Front of the House mid-afternoon 

For more information about the Kaleidoscope of Homes, visit www.theKofH.com.

Identifying the "Tudor" house.

Tudor is a category that it seems a lot of homes fall into. But what really makes a Tudor house authentic, and where did the style originate from? I want this posting to be a bit more informative and answer some of these questions.

The term "Tudor" itself is a bit misleading. There was, obviously, the Tudor Period in English History (1485-1603), which the name is directly derived from. But from an architectural standpoint, the Tudor Revival style that American houses are classified as are really based on a much broader historical reference of medieval English architecture, including the Jacobean and Elizabethan eras. What is considered Tudor Revival may also sometimes be refered to as "Tudorbethan" or "Jacobethan", but they are essentially different names for the same architecture.

Some of the earliest examples of the style orginate with Norman Shaw, such as with his house "Cragside", built in 1863 in Northumberland, England. The house made extensive use of half timbering, 4 point (or "tudor") arches, heavy masonry detailing and massive, elaborately detailed masonry chimneys. Also of note were the steeply pitched roofs and cross gables and the joining of multiple windows for a larger expanse of glass, or a ribbon effect.

As the style evolved and came eventually to America, it reached the height of it's popularity from the 1920's through the 1940's. Some of the identifying feature of the style include: A) Prominent front facing cross gable with steeply pitched roof, B) Massive and elaborate masonry chimney, C) Groupings of mulit-pane rectangular windows, D) False half timbering, and E) Mix of materials may include stone, stucco, brick and rough wood.

Some examples of the work I have produced at my firm which fit into this style are shown in the following examples. Here is a fairly nice watercolor rendering done of a charming country house that incorporates all the aspects of Tudor Revival architecture talked about above.

In this example of a larger and more traditional house, again we see all the elements of Tudor Revival architecture are here. The entry has a more defined entry in cast stone, and as this house was designed for a corner lot, the house presents itself well from the corner and the side elevation. A more traditional "hood mould" goes over the top of the windows, and provides a functional use of pushing water away from the face of the glass as well as a decorative element.

In this last example of a smaller house, we can see the front gable becomes asymmetrical for the entry with a more modest use of stone as an accent. The front chimney provides some architectural interest for the design also, and the lintels above the windows here are a simple but well crafted rough wood.

I hope that gives you a far understanding of the Tudor style, hopefully I will be expanding on some other architectural styles. As always, feel free to leave relevant comments or questions and for more examples of my work, please check out my website at Heritage Design Studio.