This client’s goal was to create a home that evokes the character and architecture of childhood memories of the ranch homes in her native West Texas.
The corner lot is in Highland Park, Texas, a densely populated urban community surrounded by Dallas.The dimensions, shape, and location of the lot confined the design of a wide open rambling Texas home similar to the ranches of this region and left little room for the desired 4-car garage and pool.
The residential architect’s solution was to use proportions, details, and materials indicative of early Texas architecture: standing seam metal roofing, Lueders limestone quarried near the owner’s childhood home, use of step downs, setbacks, and roof changes to give the appearance of a home added to over years, synthetic plaster wall finish and thick walls evocative of plaster over solid masonry, interior structural stone walls and flooring, exposed rafter tails, oak doors and windows with hand-wrought hardware and pocket screens. The 4–car garage was split into two, 2-car garages: one attached; the other detached from the home, providing privacy around a narrow pool and court.
The resulting home is refined stone ranch, reminiscent of early Texas ‘dogtrot’ houses.
Winner of the Southern Living Home Award
“Building materials reflect the region. Limestone quarried near Albany, in West Texas, sets the rugged tone. The roof is galvanized metal, again in keeping with the style. Interior walls are a mix of stone and plaster finish, and floors are stone and wood. Beams, stained woodwork, and handwrought hardware add a relaxed feel.”
– Lynda Hallam, Southern Living
