Josiah Daniel’s great great grandfather built the Daniel log home in 1856. The oak logs, cut from his farm, were assembled to form a double-pen dog trot. The log home is comprised of two rooms (of equal size) separated by an open breezeway, the dog trot. This is typical of southern log house of this era. Members of the Daniel family have owned the home since it was built. Susan and Josiah set out to preserve and restore the house to its original state.
“We could not have done this without the help of our Dallas architect, Stephen B. Chambers, AIA, who does historic preservation and restoration. A lot of research went into the restoration of our house and it was restored using antique materials,” states Susan.
Brooke Giannetti, interior designer and author of the blog Velvet & Linen, came up with the idea to award a prize of a handmade table to demonstrate how personal style influences appearance of a decorative item. If six different people had the exact same coffee table, it might look different in six settings. “It comes down to how you place it, the other pieces surrounding it, the shape and color of the room and how you accessorize that table. Putting your personal touches to a reproduction piece can be very rewarding,” says Brooke. Mark Sage of Bobo Intriguing Objects was kind enough to offer three Brickmaker’s tables for a give away on Brooke’s blog.
Daniel’s living room
Readers of the Velvet & Linen blog were asked to submit photos of a room where the table could be placed. Three winners were selected by the votes of thousands of readers. The Daniel’s living room was one of the winners.
Chambers’ design of Daniel Dog Trot preserves and displays the original craftsmanship of the 1856 home without sanitizing history. Evidence of the limited technical means of the builders of 150 years ago is still present. The Daniels’ plan is to use the property as a family retreat, working farm, and make it available to local historical groups.
About Steve Chambers
Steve has been a licensed architect since 1975. He is also a licensed interior designer. He has specialized in designing residences for over thirty-three years and has also built a number of homes himself. He understands the process of residential design, from conceptualization through construction. He recognizes that when he is designing for a client, he must listen to what the clients want and then collaborate with them to design a home that meets their needs and preferences. As a result of a detailed interview, developed over years of working with many clients, creative and livable designs emerge. His signature talent is the ability to generate a variety of creative solutions, realizing that really good design can be achieved in many styles.
Marshall, Texas - Attached to the west wall of the Wood Building being renovated by Stephen B. Chambers Architects, Inc., is a MADI Art installation by internationally renowned artist, Volf Roitman. The Marshall MADI Art Wall was dedicated in a citywide ceremony on December 18, 2009.
Volf Roitman
Mr. Roitman, the founder of the South American MADI art movement, describes MADI art as
“a form which celebrates asymmetry and the three-dimensional…add a generous amount of vibrant color and playfulness.”
Edmund Wood, a Marshall native, and his wife Anna Wood, provided space on their office building and the finances to install the art on its west side. The Marshall News Messenger quotes City Manager, Frank Johnson,
“it can have a huge impact on the children in the community. It exposes them to what is literally and internationally significant piece of art…”
Mardi Art Wall, Marshall, Texas
Susan Spears, Michelson Museum of Art Director, says,
“there is no message, no underlying anything, it just brings exciting color and fancy. It’s just to make you feel good.”
Steve Chambers, AIA:
“I enjoyed his collaboration with Mr. Roitman and feels that the addition of his art to the renovation of this building brings additional forms, colors, invention and imagination to the Marshall streetscape and serves as an interesting contrast to the historical homes and the Marshall Courthouse, which can be seen two blocks to the west of the MADI Art Wall.”
Roitman’s art pieces were moved from the façade of a Dallas building and installed in Marshall.
“Using the embodied energy of this art adds an additional element of sustainable/green design to the project,”
states Chambers.
Building of the Madi Art Wall:
Interview with Volf Roitman:
For more information and photos of the Art Wall Dedication visit the Marshall News Messenger.
Steve has been a licensed architect since 1975. He is also a licensed interior designer. He has specialized in designing residences for over thirty-three years and has also built a number of homes himself. He understands the process of residential design, from conceptualization through construction. He recognizes that when he is designing for a client, he must listen to what the clients want and then collaborate with them to design a home that meets their needs and preferences. As a result of a detailed interview, developed over years of working with many clients, creative and livable designs emerge. His signature talent is the ability to generate a variety of creative solutions, realizing that really good design can be achieved in many styles.
Stephen B. Chambers Architects, Inc. Completes Historic Rehabilitation of Log Cabin ‘Dogtrot’ in East Texas
DALLAS – June 30, 2009 – Stephen B. Chambers Architects, Inc., an architectural firm that specializes in modern and traditional residential design, remodeling, and historic renovation, recently completed an historic rehabilitation of a pre-Civil War two-pen dogtrot log home near Tyler, Texas.
“The client’s primary goal for this restoration was to provide a guest cottage for the weekend farmhouse that Chambers recently completed for his client on the East Texas land that his been in their family since 1871. The new farmhouse, when completed looked as though it could have been built by the clients’ ancestors when they acquired the property in 1871,” says Steve. He drew from the distinctive architectural tradition of East Texas: a simple, box-like structure with a gable roof; big front porch; galvanized steel roofing; sandstone exterior; and over-sized barn lights finish the rustic feeling.
With the new farmhouse completed, Steve turned his attention to the restoration of the original log cabin that the client’s great-great-grandfather built with his own hands when he moved to Texas in 1856. This vintage structure consists of two cabins (pens) separated by an open passageway (dog-run or dogtrot), with a continuous gable roof covering both cabins and the passageway between them. The porch extends across the entire front of the house and, the passage between the two pens, was enclosed by screens. A lean-to shed, was constructed at the rear of each cabin for a kitchen and bathroom. This type of shed was often an addition to these 19th century Texas log cabins.
Rounding out the firm’s portfolio of East Texas projects, Steve currently is currently working on an 1895 Folk Victorian home in Marshall, Texas, the restoration of an office building in Marshall, Texas, and the remodel of a home in Longview, Texas. Chambers Architects will collaborate with Volf Roitman, a renown MADI artist, to incorporate his sculpture into the exterior of the office building located in downtown Marshall, Texas. Mr. Roitman has relocated his MADI sculpture from Dallas to Marshall, Texas for this project.
About Steve Chambers
Steve has been a licensed architect since 1975. He is also a licensed interior designer. He has specialized in designing residences for over thirty-three years and has also built a number of homes himself. He understands the process of residential design, from conceptualization through construction. He recognizes that when he is designing for a client, he must listen to what the clients want and then collaborate with them to design a home that meets their needs and preferences. As a result of a detailed interview, developed over years of working with many clients, creative and livable designs emerge. His signature talent is the ability to generate a variety of creative solutions, realizing that really good design can be achieved in many styles.
Log Home General Contractor: Byron Bottoms, Heritage Restorations
Stephen B. Chambers Architects, Inc. Completes ‘Green’ Modern Residential Design in Devonshire Area
DALLAS – June 25, 2009 – Stephen B. Chambers Architects, Inc., an architectural firm that specializes in modern and traditional residential design, remodeling, and historic renovation, recently completed a Dallas residence in the Devonshire area using many of the principles of sustainable design. Particular attention was paid to efficient use of space and the conservation of energy, water and other natural resources on the site.
“The client’s primary goal in the design of this new home was to downsize to a single level, low maintenance, high efficiency home,” says Steve Chambers. “Protecting the environment, providing a habitat for migratory birds and butterflies, and conserving the site’s natural resources also were important elements as we progressed through the design process. A unique feature of this home is a 1,650-gallon galvanized steel cistern in the front yard that serves a real purpose in providing supplementary landscape irrigation by collecting rainwater from the roof. Symbolically, it reminds us of how important water is as a resource.”
Steve remembers that his mother, who was raised in Nebraska during the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s, used white porcelain bowls in the 1950’s in Dallas to collect rainwater from the roof downspouts to wash her hair. “Somehow, in just a few generations,” Steve says, “we have forgotten what a scarce commodity fresh water can be and that a real effort is necessary to intelligently conserve it and other natural resources in our environment. This can be done by specifying many of the recycled, recyclable, renewable, and short-growth products that are now available to architects and designers.”
Other sustainable features of the home are: open cell foam insulation, galvanized steel roofing, stone quarried within 300 miles of Dallas, pine end grain block flooring, deep overhangs and loggia, high-efficiency appliances and ceiling fans, high-performance windows and doors, high-efficiency air conditioning, low-flow plumbing fixtures, drip irrigation system, minimal water use landscaping, low maintenance grasses and no lawn.
About Steve Chambers
Steve has been a licensed architect since 1975. He is also a licensed interior designer. He has specialized in designing residences for over thirty-three years and has also built a number of homes himself. He understands the process of residential design, from conceptualization of the design through construction. He recognizes that when he is designing for a client, he must listen to what the clients want and then collaborate with them to design a home that meets their needs and preferences. As a result of a detailed interview, developed over years of working with many clients, creative and livable designs emerge. His signature talent is the ability to generate a variety of creative solutions, realizing that really good design can be achieved in many styles.
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Rounding out the firm’s portfolio of East Texas project
s, Steve currently is currently working on an 1895 Folk Victorian home in Marshall, Texas, the restoration of an office building in Marshall, Texas, and the remodel of a home in Longview, Texas. Chambers Architects will collaborate with Volf Roitman, a renown MADI artist, to incorporate his sculpture into the exterior of the office building located in downtown Marshall, Texas. Mr. Roitman has relocated his MADI sculpture from Dallas to Marshall, Texas for this project.