Dallas Architecture Blog discusses Modern architecture and Mid Century Modern
Homes, Dallas Neighborhoods, Dallas Real Estate and the Aesthetics of the City.

Architect Maurice Fatio designed home 1939, architect Peter Marino renovation 2002

Most modern architects sneer at eclectic designed European inspired homes. Architecture aficionados also have a general bias towards modern and a disdain for the reputation of generic styles and spaces that are driven by the exterior design. The reaction of the Crespi/Hicks estate is much different. This is a home modern architects, and anyone interested in architecture, love.

At Conclusion of 20th Century, AIA Identified Crespi Estate as Architecturally Significant Home

The Crespi Estate designed by architect Maurice Fatio

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the American Institute of Architects, Dallas Chapter, there was a citywide survey of architecturally significant homes by those in the community most involved with art, architecture and design. After a committee of 250 people most knowledgeable about Dallas and architecture nominated significant homes, the selection committee met in the Scott Lyons designed home of Margaret McDermott, the honorary chairman, and reviewed 100 years of Dallas significant homes.

Scott Lyons designed Texas modern home

The committee included Deedie Rose representing the Dallas Museum of Art as president of the board of trustees; Nancy Marcus, president of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture; Bryce Weigand, president of the Dallas Chapter, AIA; James Pratt, FAIA, representing the greater Dallas Planning Council; Rick Brettell representing the Dallas Architecture Forum as its founder; Robert Meckfessel representing Preservation Dallas, Harry Robinson representing the African-American Museum; Bill Booziotis representing the Dallas Architecture Foundation; Emily Summers representing the American Society of Interior Designers, Dallas Chapter; Rita Clements representing the Dallas Historical Society as president, and me as the AIA appointed chairman of the Dallas 50 Significant Homes project.

Surprisingly, the significant homes nominated were very evenly distributed through every decade of the 20th century. All architectural styles were represented with modern homes from every decade receiving much attention. There was one home, however, that everyone was enthralled with and where the reception announcing the significant homes was held – the Crespi/Hicks estate in Preston Hollow.

Modern Architects Laud Crespi/Hicks Estate

Found in Preston Hollow, the Crespi/Hicks estate is considered the finest estate home in America.

Modern architect Bill Booziotis, FAIA, who has designed many modern art galleries and museums, said about the Crespi estate,

Hoffman Gallery designed by architect Bill Booziotis, FAIA

Dr. Richard Brettell, who has a Master of Arts in architecture and a Ph.D. in art history from Yale University, and who is the former director of the Dallas Museum of Art and currently the Professor of Aesthetic Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas, said about the Crespi estate,

Dallas Museum of Art designed by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes, FAIA

Texas modern architect Frank Welch, FAIA, was quite taken with the Crespi estate. He said,

Texas modern home designed by architect Frank Welch, FAIA

James Pratt, FAIA, who has been recognized for his conservation and land planning efforts, along with the modern homes he has designed, said of the Crespi estate,

Modern home at 9035 Broken Arrow designed by architect James Pratt, FAIA

The bias of the committee was not towards large houses, but for architecture that was compelling, that made a statement, that furthered design and reflected significant homes. While many large houses were quickly dismissed, the Crespi estate enchanted everyone by its proportions, materials, artisanship and its relationship to the site.

The Crespi/Hicks Estate Continues To Embrace Many of the Tenets of Modernism

Separate structures allow each room to have more sunlight

New York designer Peter Marino, the renovation architect, approached this home in the same way as Maurice Fatio, the Swiss architect who worked primarily in New York and Palm Beach, approached this home. The emphasis remained on proportion, materials, and architecture authentic to its site and style. Peter Marino, who recently designed the Louis Vuitton flagship store in Rome, also approached the project as a modernist, capturing light and creating rooms with real purpose and function.

Sunlit room in the Crespi/Hicks estate

Rather than expanding the home with a labyrinth of windowless rooms, he took the approach most often seen with modern architects and sited separate structures with specific functions that relate visually to the house, but are not attached to the house.

Pool house separated by the gardens of the Crespi/Hicks estate

The pool house, surrounded by manicured lawns and hedgerows with openings for paths to the main house and guest house, relates to all three houses.

The formal guest house of the Crespi/Hicks estate is easily reached from the pool house from this direction

The formal guest house with a path to the Crespi/Hicks estate home

The guest house is pushed close to the forested creek, but has a path to the breakfast room and kitchen of the main house. Gardens both separate the structures and tie them together.

Architect David Williams, FAIA, Created the Texas Modern Architectural Style

David Williams is known as the mentor of Texas modern architect O’Neil Ford and for creating the Texas modern style. David Williams goal was to take the modernism of Europe and merge it with the indigenous style, materials and artisanship of the region to create architecture as modern as any project in Europe.

Early Texas modern home designed in 1932 by architect David Williams, FAIA

The open floor plans of David Williams’ Texas modern homes are continued with terraces, porches and courtyards. The honesty of the structure and materials used are accentuated by the hand carved detail created on site.

The Crespi Estate Shares Similarities of Approach and Aesthetics With David Williams’ Texas Modern Homes

Crespi/Hicks estate, surrounded by manicured lawns and cultivated gardens

The Crespi estate was designed just a few years after David Williams, FAIA, originated his breakthrough Texas modern homes. While architect David Williams designed homes rooted in modernism and the indigenous styles of Texas, and Maurice Fatio designed homes rooted in classical European traditions, the two share many similarities in their approach and aesthetics. Both architects emphasized proportion and function. Just as David Williams designed a large magnificent Texas modern home in front of Turtle Creek in University Park, Maurice Fatio selected a site where the Crespi/Hicks estate is placed in front of White Rock creek that runs behind it.

Texas modern home sited on Turtle Creek designed by architect David Wiliiams, FAIA, in 1933

Crespi/Hicks estate, sited on White Rock creek, surrounded by forest and ponds

Both architects emphasized terraces, porches, balconies and open courtyards to capture the breezes. David Williams emphasized the honesty of materials and artisanship. He employed Hobbs Ford to carve ornamentation into the structure of the house and make the wrought iron fixtures on site. Maurice Fatio also employed artisans to carve stone and wood on site and had Potter Iron Works come to the site to forge wrought iron for the staircase. While the styles differ, both architects’ work represents uncluttered clean lines.

Artisans worked on-site at the David Williams, architect-designed Texas modern home

Artisans carving stone on-site at the Crespi/Hicks estate

Carved stone at Crespi/Hicks estate

Crespi/Hicks Estate Preserves Art Deco Underpinning of Era

Art Deco bar at Crespi/Hicks estate

The great Art Deco and Art Moderne houses were designed around 1936, including one that Maurice Fatio designed in Palm Beach. Maurice Fatio brought elements of Art Moderne to the Crespi Estate. It is fun to see vestiges from that modern period in the main hall chandeliers and the Art Deco bar that the late Lupe Murchison called “the best bar in Dallas.”

The Crespi/Hicks Estate Reflects the Modernity of Its Time in 1939

The Crespi/Hicks estate embraces modern technology. It was the first home in Dallas with central air and heat. It is also a home that is designed with the site and environment in mind. The summer breezes from the southeast sweep down the long hill, across the balconies, loggias and terraces, cooling the home.

Crespi/Hicks estate tucked away at bottom of hill

Wells have been dug to collect water in ponds to irrigate the lawns, flowering gardens and vegetable gardens. The land, forest and creeks have been protected. Materials that will survive for centuries have been used and renovation preserved the original materials and finishes or they were used in other rooms.

Maurice Fatio Designed a Remarkable Estate Home – Peter Marino Completed the Original Architect’s Intent

The Crespi/Hicks estate emphasizes preservation, advances architectural design in the 21st century, and provides an estate home that embraces the tenets of classicism and modernism.

A rose garden at the Crespi/Hicks estate

Huffington Post – The Finest Estate Home in America Found
Architecturally Significant Homes – The Finest Estate Home in America

Architect Lionel Morrison, FAIA, Morrison Dilworth + Walls

Lionel Morrison, FAIA

One Arts Plaza. Architect Lionel Morrison, FAIA, Morrison Seifert Murphy

International Business Park. Architect Lionel Morrison, FAIA, Morrison Seifert Murphy

Mark Dilworth, AIA

Mark Dilworth was the design director and CEO of Omniplan created by E.G. Hamilton , famous for designing the original NorthPark Center. Under the leadership of Mark Dilworth, Omniplan designed the internationally acclaimed expanded NorthPark Center.

NorthPark Center. Architect Mark Dilworth, AIA, Omniplan

Some Partners in Large Architectural Firms Dream
of Creating Small Firms

While some architects create small firms with the dream of building a large firm, Lionel Morrison and Mark Dilworth ran large firms and dreamed of creating a small firm with a high design impact. As young architects, Lionel Morrison and Mark Dilworth started with drawing boards next to each other in the E.G. Hamilton studio at Omniplan. While they were both proud of their accomplishments and the projects designed, they became excited about putting their drawing boards next to each other once again in a small studio. To allow their passion for design, Cari Walls, whose career was also at Omniplan joined Lionel Morrison and Mark Dilworth to manage the business side of their new firm, Morrison Dilworth + Walls and MDW Studio.

NorthPark Center. Architect Mark Dilworth, AIA, Omniplan

Potential Architecture Projects for MDW Studio

Tollway Plaza. Architect Mark Dilworth, AIA, Omniplan

Potential projects include architectural work in Beijing. Some developers seek the specific talents of architects like Lionel Morrison whose experience is in residential, office and some mixed-use retail, and architects like Mark Dilworth whose experience includes modern office buildings and designing the most successful shopping center in the country. MDW Studio clients enjoy  dealing directly with Morrison and Dilworth and the talented architects of the firm who will personally be designing the projects at Morrison Dilworth + Walls.

Lionel Morrison Continues to Design Modern Homes

Lionel Morrison continues to design elegant modern residences. In Northern Heights,  Lionel Morrison designed a modern home just a few blocks away from the first modern home he designed over two decades ago.

Architect Lionel Morrison, FAIA, Morrison Dilworth + Walls

Many of the great modern houses in Dallas have been designed by internationally famous architects like Philip Johnson or Edward Larabee Barnes or Frank Lloyd Wright, who had originally come to Dallas to design office buildings or museums. In Dallas, Lionel Morrison, FAIA, is designing office and retail buildings around the country and continues to design architecturally significant homes in Dallas.

A Bad Economy Creates the Best Architecture

This was the title of a blog article three years ago,  Bad Times, Best Architecture, explaining why many of the best architectural projects come during a bad economy.  Here is another example, not discussed in the article, where economic turmoil, uncertainty, and a bad economy force firms to decide whether they are going to plow along and do any kind of work to keep architects busy or to concentrate and spend more time on the best architectural projects. In the case of Lionel Morrsion, Mark Dilworrth and Cari Walls, they left profitable firms as they determined an uncertain economy is the perfect environment to emphasize design and high quality projects that demand extraordinary talent, uninterrupted by the trial and tribulation of a large firm in a sluggish economy.

Large Architectural Firms Have the Potential to be Technological and Structural Innovators or Just Labor Pools for Small Design-Intensive Firms

Some large architectural firms like Skidmore, Owings & Merrill dedicate a great amount of resources for research and development. This enables them to create, design and build structures that previously could not be imagined. Some large firms are so burdened by bureaucracy and preoccupation with deal flow, to keep their architects busy, that design becomes secondary. Nevertheless, these large firms can join projects with small firms, as they have talented and competent architects who are delighted to work alongside or under the direction of a small design firm, creating the volumes of drawings and specs that a substantial project requires.

One World Trade Center. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

Great Projects are Coming Out of the Ground

In the last three years, architects have had the time to design great projects. Now the economy and the mood of the country is to push forward and build those projects. While there has been much hand wringing and consternation in the architectural community, the reevaluating of priorities, the reimagining of firms and architectural practices has created an incredible platform for future creativity and good works.

See Architecturally Significant Modern Homes on Facebook for more photographs on modern homes designed by architect Lionel Morrison, FAIA.

The American Institute of Architects, Dallas Chapter presented the Honor Award to wernerfield architecture + design, a young firm founded by architects Braxton Werner and Paul Field, for the modern home they designed in one of my favorite neighborhoods and for one of my favorite clients.

Modern Home in Northern Hills, Another Triumph

A sophisticated homeowner and client, with experience commissioning emerging architects to design and articulate a modern home, chose architects Braxton Werner and Paul Field to design a modern home in the Northern Hills neighborhood. Once again, this client participated in an architectural triumph. This architectural collaboration of homeowner and architect was recognized by the AIA, Dallas Chapter with the 2011 Honor Award for a residence.

Architects Retained for Site Specific Modern Home

For over ten years, these homeowners loved living in their last architect designed home in Preston Hollow, but desired a slightly larger home on a considerably smaller lot. They retained architects Braxton Werner and Paul Field to design a site specific modern home in a small, secluded 1920s eclectic neighborhood bordered by Highland Park on two sides, the Katy Trail on one side and Turtle Creek Park on the downtown side. Paramount to the design of the home was retaining a towering oak tree with a massive canopy on the front of this Northern Hills lot.

Contemporary Home Recedes From Neighborhood and Embraces Neighborhood

The massing of this 3,400 square foot home reflects the height of the one- and two-story homes in the neighborhood. A uniform setback on the block is maintained by a stacked stone wall that intersects with the one-story wing of the home that is closest to the street.

The intersecting two-story wing is pushed to the rear of the site to protect the homeowner’s privacy and to more subtly contrast with the predominantly eclectic homes in the neighborhood. The walls of windows and balcony on the second floor allow the homeowners to enjoy the leafy tree-lined curving streets of their Northern Hills neighborhood as they look over the pool and courtyard.

Intersecting Planes of Architectural Materials – Stone, Plaster and Glass Create Courtyard for Entrance and Pool

Once you are in the courtyard, you will feel as if you are in the home even before your passage through the home’s formal front door. This sensation is created by the floor-to-ceiling glazed walls and sliding doors. Opening the mahogany and glass sliding doors creates a 24 foot opening from the living room with polished white walls and polished concrete floor to the courtyard and pool. Once you are back in the courtyard there is still the sensation you are in the heart of the home, and when inside the home, there is still the sensation you are in an outdoor space.

Sliding Glass Doors and Terrace Expand Public Spaces

One enters the home’s courtyard through a pivoting rusticated steel door, penetrating the stacked stone entrance wall. Another door, one that is wood and also pivoting, takes one into an entry. Here, the exterior stacked stone outside wall continues uninterrupted inside. The transition from outside to inside is compressed, which allows another quick transition to the open core of the house – the kitchen, living room and the glazed doors opening wide to the terrace and pool, combining the outdoor and indoor spaces.

A Site Impacts the Design – The Architects Re-imagine the Site

A city lot surrounded by 1920s and 1930s homes seems to call for an eclectic design in order to be respectful of the neighborhood. Braxton Werner, AIA, and Paul Field, AIA, recognized a very modern house could be compatible with the neighborhood and created a dynamic modern design that is oriented to capture the breezes, provide shade in the hot summer months, and allow sunlight from the low winter sun to illuminate and warm the house.

The two-story section of the house backs up to a Highland Park estate, properly buffered by well over an acre of land. The stacked stone wall blends into the environment and the towering trees are the dominant feature of the streetscape. Here is a great example of a modern home that gracefully provides architectural interest and credibility to a traditional neighborhood.

The best modern homes receive attention and awards when they are first designed, continue to influence the architectural landscape, and remain compelling 25 years later. This Preston Hollow modern home designed in 1985 continues to be an example of great architecture in 2010.

Renovation Design of This Contemporary Architectural Achievement

Some architects cannot stand to see any tampering with their original work, but many of the finest and most self-confident architects do enjoy seeing a thoughtful massage of the original design. Materials, technology and client resources change. For example, sometimes an expensive standing seam copper roof has to be cut for budgetary reasons during the original construction, and then a renovation allows it to be reinstated in the design. Modern architecture draws from classic design and explores contemporary thought. Renovation allows the best ideas to survive and the others to be edited.

Gary Cunningham Designs Renovation of His Own Award Winning Architecture

What fun when an architect is invited to revisit one of his or her architectural projects. The renovation stakes are even higher when the original design is iconic, celebrated and lasting. Gary Cunningham not only accepted the invitation to design the renovation of his own work, he accepted the invitation twice from the same client. The first renovation Gary Cunningham designed included the kitchen; the second renovation design Gary Cunningham did on this modern house included the master bathroom.

Successful Renovation is the Result of a Great House, Great Architecture and a Great Client

Here on Northaven the renovation was so successful because the design had been tested by time and was very good. The client has exquisite taste, a good eye and was committed to only accentuating the original design of this modern home inspired by Mies van der Rohe’s unbuilt brick country house. The Gary Cunningham-designed renovation further enhanced the natural light and art lighting and preserved Post Modern elements that are now translated as pure modern. Magnificent pieces of stone were installed in the kitchen that was opened up. The clean lines of Carrara marble contributed to the sleek, modern master bathroom.

Sited on a Peninsula Overlooking Water

Architects love finding a great site and designing a home that reflects the beauty of the land and setting. Architect Gary Cunningham designed this home with windows overlooking the green terrain, and rooms cantilevered over the water. Here the architect explored the site and designed a home fully integrated into the natural beauty of this setting. As a real estate broker it gives me great pleasure to be able to offer for sale a home of this aesthetic quality.

The Success of the Northaven Modern Home Was Followed with Dozens of Additional Citation, Merit and Honor Awards Given by Texas Society of Architects and Dallas AIA

Here are architectural projects designed by Gary Cunningham, FAIA, including commercial buildings, sacred spaces, schools and residences that have received well deserved awards.

Texas Society of Architects Design Awards

1984 14840 Landmark Office Building, Dallas, Texas
1985 Benchmark Office Building, Longview, Texas
1989 Exhibit of Cunningham Architects at the University of Texas at Arlington
1989 Powerhouse, Dallas, Texas
1990 Steak and Ale Corporate Headquarters, Dallas, Texas
1992 Addison Conference and Theatre Center, Addison, Texas
1992 Cistercian Abbey Church, Irving, Texas
1994 4401 Travis Street Apartments, Dallas, Texas
1997 Latorre Residence, Dallas, Texas
2001 Texas Utilities Customer Service Center, Waco, Texas
2002 Casa Caja, Dallas, Texas
2005 Casa Angosta, Richardson, Texas
2005 Pump Station, Highland Park, Texas
2006 Addison Arts & Events District Pavilion, Addison, Texas
2009 House in the Garden (Nearburg Residence), Dallas, Texas

Dallas Chapter of the AIA Design Awards

1984 Benchmark Office Building, Longview, Texas, Merit Award
1984 14840 Landmark Office Building, Dallas, Texas, Merit Award
1987 Exhibit of Cunningham Architects at the University of Texas at Arlington
1988 Sesler House, Dallas, Texas, Citation Award
1989 Power House, Dallas, Texas, Honor Award
1990 Now/Then/Again, Exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, Merit Award
1990 Grace Lutheran Church, Carrollton, Texas, Merit Award
1992 Addison Conference and Theatre Center, Addison, Texas, Honor Award
1992 Temple Shalom, Epstein Chapel, Dallas, Texas, Citation Award
1993 Cistercian Abbey Church, Irving, Texas, Citation Award
1994 4401 Travis Street Apartments, Dallas, Texas, Merit Award
1995 Prince of Peace Catholic Community, Plano, Texas, Honor Award
1996 Latorre Residence, Dallas, Texas, Merit Award
1998 Cole Avenue Apartments, Dallas, Texas, Merit Award
1998 Healy House, Dallas, Texas, Citation Award
2000 TXU Service Center, Waco, Texas, Merit Award
2000 Dallas International School, Dallas, Texas, Honor Award
2001 Haggerty Art Center, Irving, Texas, Merit Award
2002 Casa Caja, Dallas, Texas, Citation Award
2003 7th Floor Gallery, JFK Museum, Dallas, Texas, Merit Award
2004 Casa Angosta, Richardson, Texas, Merit Award
2004 Addison Arts & Events District Pavilion, Addison, Texas, Honor Award
2008 House on Cedar Hill, Texas, Merit Award
2010 Wimberley Residence, Citation Award

Other Awards

1985 Longview Beautification Award for Benchmark Office Building
1986 Dallas Chapter of AIA, Young Architect of the Year Award
1987 Distinguished Architect of the Year Award, The University of Texas at
Arlington School of Architecture
1989 National Glass Association, Honor Award for the Power House
1989 Delta Sigma Tau Silver Metal Award, Texas Tech University
1989 National Curatorial Award for the Now/Then/Again Exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art
1990 International Association of Lighting Designers Award of Excellence for the Power House
1990 Illuminating Engineering Society Honor Award for the Powerhouse
1991 Illuminating Engineering Society Merit Award for Epstein Chapel
1992 Dallas Theatre Award for The Addison Centre Theatre
1994 International Association of Lighting Designers Award of Excellence for the Cistercian
Abbey Church
1994 Emerging Voices, Architectural League of New York
1995 Young Outstanding Texas Ex, The university of Texas at Austin
2003 Illuminating Engineering Society Merit Award for Sacred Space
2005 Illuminating Engineering Society IIDA Legends Award for Addison Arts & Events District
Pavilion
2006 International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) Merit Award, House in the Garden

November 6 & 7

Dan Shipley Architect

Dallas has had a proliferation of home tours since the first Swiss Avenue Home Tour in 1973. Neighborhood home tours, garden home tours, preservation home tours, and Park Cities home tour have all helped educate the public and refine the taste of those interested in good architecture. My favorite tour has become the AIA Dallas modern home tour on November 6 and 7.

Dallas Modern AIA Home Tour

Modern homes have been the most difficult to access. There are too few modern homes. Also, modern homes are usually designed by an architect for a client so these homes have not been held open like a builder holds open their spec homes for months. The Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects has changed this with the AIA Dallas Tour of Homes. Here architecture aficionados and those just curious have a chance to see a well curated selection of architect designed homes. This modern home tour will give you the chance to see the latest materials and technology, different neighborhoods and locations influencing design, and the architectural approach of very talented architects.

Jim Wiley, FAIA, Designed Magnificent Modern Home in 1956 – See on Tour Magnificent Home Jim Wiley Designed in 2008

Jim Wiley Architect

Jim Wiley, FAIA, as a young architect working with Bud Oglesby, designed the celebrated Kelley house in Highland Park in 1956. Architect Jim Wiley, working with Bob Meckfessel designed this Urban Reserve home in 2008. The celebrated Kelley house received the AIA 25 Year Award during the year Bob James was Dallas AIA president and has long been considered an architectural treasure. The modern home Jim Wiley designed for Dorothea and Bart Kelley has been a cultural hub for 50 years.

Now Jim Wiley, FAIA, has designed a modern home for Gloria Wise. What Dorothea Kelley was to chamber music, Gloria Wise was to architecture. For years Gloria Wise was the incredibly successful and influential executive director of the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. She educated, nurtured, encouraged architects and patrons, and was constantly linking people and promoting good architecture.

It is fantastic that we will be able to see the most recent work of Jim Wiley. I am confident this modern home at 33 Vanguard Way will also become an iconic achievement. The home will be open November 6 and 7, 2010.

Architect Nick Glazbrook Designs for Josey Cooner Collins and Marty Collins

Nick Glazbrook Architect

Nick Glazbrook is an established, talented and decorated architect who has collaborated with Josey Cooner of Scott+Cooner and Marty Collins, the developer of the W in Dallas. All three have made a significant impact on Dallas and you will have a chance to see the Collins residence at 8205 Forest Hills Boulevard on the AIA Dallas Tour of Homes.

Dan Shipley Architect

Dan Shipley Architect

Architect Dan Shipley has received Dallas AIA and TSA Awards. Dan Shipley is not a prolific architect but every one of his modern residences is meritorious which makes being able to see the home at 1550 Stemmons Avenue and 25 Vanguard Way very exciting.

Patrick Alexander, AIA

Patrick Alexander Architect

Architect Patrick Alexander has consistently done strong modernist work and continues to show his ability with the modern home he designed at 3156 Brookhollow Drive.

Architects Hammers + Partners

Hammers + Partners Architecture

Hammers + Partners have had an amazing impact on Kessler Woods. Kessler Woods, a collection of modern homes, has drawn attention from across the country. Many of Dallas’s finest architects have designed homes here, but arguably Hammers + Partners have made the greatest contribution.

Susan Appleton

Susan Appleton Architect

There has been much excitement about the home Susan Appleton designed at 5707 Del Roy Drive and this will be an interesting modern home to see.

bloc-Design Syndicate with Joshua Nimmo, AIA, LEED AP, Stephanie Saunders, LEED AP, Alan Kagan

Joshua Nimmo Architect

There is a great confluence of talent that designed 4414 and 4418 Rusk Avenue. One’s expectations are heightened to see the recent work of Joshua Nimmo, Stephanie Saunders and Alan Kagan on this year’s AIA Dallas Tour of Homes.

Enjoy the 2010 AIA Dallas Tour of Homes

You may buy tickets at the door of any of these homes on tour.

David Hocker landscape design

A brilliantly designed home will always be a fabulous home. A talented landscape architect can add even more context, texture and meaning to an architect-designed home.

Landscape Architecture vs. Landscape Allowance

Many think of landscapes as a “builder allowance” of a few thousand dollars for some hedgerows, foundation plantings and flower beds that serve as mitigating ornamentation. However, I’ve developed quite a different opinion having seen the work of great landscape architects in Dallas, such as the legendary Arthur and Marie Berger, and Thomas Church, as well as current landscape architects such as Armstrong-Berger, David Hocker, David Rolston, Kevin Sloan, Harold Leidner, Michael Kinler, Seeing their work in context to architecturally significant homes, it’s clear that these architects help accentuate the design of the home and give the home context in the same way a natural setting such as a mountain or a lake defines the essence of a residence.

David Hocker Wins Two American Society of Landscape Architects Awards

The Power House

Two excellent examples of the collaboration of a landscape architect (David Hocker) and an architect (Gary Cunningham) are the Power House in Dallas and the Pool House in Highland Park. The combination of these two talents and disciplines created extraordinary results.

Landscape architect David Hocker recently won two American Society of Landscape Architects Honor Awards for these projects. Usually these landscape awards go to architects who design in the mountains or along the ocean on the West Coast or in the verdant and forested East Coast. David Hocker won for these two landscape designs: The Power House, a 1930s former commercial structure renovated for residential use, and The Pool House in Highland Park, a new urban retreat for an artist and for a car collector who resided next door. The landscape of The Power House softens the hard edge of the commercial structure with native plants, but maintains the sense of urbanity with its strong structural elements.

Gary Cunningham Designs Highland Park Pool House

Gary Cunningham was commissioned to design The Pool House that would function as an artist’s studio, a gallery for cars, a family space, guesthouse and a space for large social gatherings. The desire was to quietly insert a modern home into an opulent, traditional neighborhood. This was accomplished by subtly placing it at the rear of the lot, behind a stainless steel wall illuminated from within. Also, this modern two-story box has 5,250 square feet, which is similar in mass to the original Highland Park estate homes. The combined size of this freestanding addition and the main house also mimics the mass of the new Highland Park homes being built nearby. David Hocker then created a garden design where both houses and lots contributed to the formation of a large garden en masse.

The Pool House

Existing red oaks and elms were included into the design as well as a minimal plant palette that was previously used for texture and privacy. In Texas the great natural asset is the bright sun and blue sky, which beg for glazed walls and an easy transition from indoors and outdoors. Some consider the harsh Texas sun and intense heat an environmental liability. Here you can see how the contributions of David Hocker, the landscape architect, and Gary Cunningham capture the sun and sky and mitigate their often harsh consequences.

The south façade is glazed in frameless, insulated glass incorporating two eight foot wide sliding glass doors. The 14 foot cantilevered roof insulates the interior from the overhead sun and still allows in the low sun and also serves as a porch to the glass tiled infinity edge swimming pool.

Large stone slabs become sinuous connectors throughout the garden and provide the transition from the street to the interior concrete floor of the first floor that extends outside into a deck that surrounds the infinity edge pool. A sunning deck extends out over the pool into the garden. The ipe wood decking complements the ipe wood skin of the pool house. The client’s affinity for blue is incorporated by both architects into meaningful interior and exterior features.

Gary Cunningham and David Hocker designed to the extraordinary taste of their clients and to unique talent of each other. The result is a free-standing addition on an independent lot that is bold and demure in design as it effectively becomes part of the whole.

Modern Architects Select Sites, Landscape Architects Make Their Decision Seem Genius

Great architects are very skillful in picking the best site in a neighborhood. Often an architect-chosen site is one that shows potential but becomes spectacular. The most exhilarating homes are influenced by the site, and accentuated by the landscape architect.

Collaboration of Arthur and Marie Berger and O’Neil Ford Stands Test of Time

O’Neil Ford designed Rock Creek house

Landscape architects Arthur and Marie Berger were great friends and collaborators with architect O’Neil Ford. The Bergers had O’Neil Ford design their small, midcentury home at 3900 Stonebridge, on a bluff overlooking Turtle Creek. It has since been torn down, with a large new house built on the lot. While the new house still has the advantage of a pretty location, this home never had the magic to capture the imagination of the public as did the O’Neil Ford designed Arthur and Marie Berger landscaped designed home. The new home dominates the site; the O’Neil Ford home submitted to the site, which the Bergers subtly influenced with their landscape design.

Around the corner at 3514 Rock Creek, O’Neil Ford and Arthur and Marie Berger collaborated on another home in 1936. On a tucked away street, this home was designed on .6 acres with the land plummeting towards the creek, giving the first floor and second floor windows a view looking down Rock Creek before it joins Turtle Creek. I can imagine the Bergers and O’Neil Ford traipsing through untamed land, evaluating the contours and orientation that resulted in a two-story L shaped house with endless forest views even now when the neighborhood is fully developed.

O’Neil Ford designed Haggerty/Hanley house

One of their most important collaborations with O’Neil Ford was for the Preston Hollow midcentury Texas Modern home designed for the Haggertys.

The Approach of Crespi Estate Declares This Architect Designed Home Most Significant of Its Era

Maurice Fatio designed this home on 22 acres in 1939. He was voted New York’s best architect and was the refined alternative to Mizner in Palm Beach for his beautiful estate homes. A visit to the Crespi Estate is breathtaking. Originally the entrance was from Walnut Hill Lane. Only after the first wide graceful turn on the descending drive did one see a magnificent French style estate home with a motor court flanked by a mature allée of magnolias. A visitor falls in love with the house along the drive that creates a transcending transition from city to estate.

Maurice Fatio designed Crespi Estate

Edward Durell Stone and Thomas Church Were Great Collaborators

Edward Durell Stone designed home

Edward Durell Stone, FAIA, and landscape architect Thomas Church appeared to have designed interior and exterior spaces as one person. The Edward Durell Stone home on Meadowbrook and Park Lane is a perfect example of their seamless work. The courtyards surrounding the home became rooms that provided light, privacy and intimacy for the exterior and interior spaces. The open interior spaces felt like an extension of the exterior. Pools of water were moved inside; a band of water circled the dining room island. A swimming pool became a centerpiece of the living room. Exterior terraces and verandahs became living spaces as one looked into the refreshing and open interiors. Glazed glass walls and hand carved screens blurred the boundaries of interior and exterior as the talent of Thomas Church and Edward Durell Stone blended the boundaries of their respective contributions to this architecturally significant home.

Modern home designed by Edward Durrell Stone

Gary Cunningham, FAIA, and David Hocker – A Contemporary Collaboration

Architect Gary Cunningham is an incredibly talented and accomplished architect known for pushing the envelope, experimenting with design and materials. Both his commercial and residential work has received Dallas and Texas AIA awards throughout two decades. The Pool House in Highland Park is a good example of the landscape architect not competing with the residential architect, but accentuating and helping define the architectural work. David Hocker’s landscape gives further balance and dimension to the architectural design of Gary Cunningham.

Architects Should Submit to the Landscape of the Site. Landscape Architects Should Submit to the Architect.

Michael Kinler landscape design

From my perspective the best houses are the ones that most closely follow the cues from the natural site and the most architecturally significant homes are designed in collaboration with a landscape architect who takes his or her cues from the natural landscape and the architect’s design. Landscape architecture should not call attention to itself or overpower a project. The best landscape architecture calls attention to the environment, anchored by an amazing house.

Every collaboration is approached in different ways and from different points in the process. The very best collaborations occur when the architect and landscape architect share early and often.