Category: Art

Posted on

Could Probably Work As-Is, But I’d…

…add a guest bath easily accessible on the first floor. To do this I’d seal off the pantry (with a door to the kitchen, obviously) on the opposite side of the hallway, lose that hall closet between the pantry and the maid’s room and extend the bath and open it to the hallway. I’d also lose the wall between the dining room and that hallway. The maid’s room would make a great home office. This obviously hails from a simpler time when the garage was not the focus of the entire house.

The fact that the upstairs windows directly above the entrance are not centered on said entrance also annoys me…

6 comments

Posted on

Nice

For Mr. and Mrs. P. A. Gillespie, the Marston, Van Pelt & Maybury⁠ would design a French Norman Revival-influenced cottage with a striking resemblance to their earlier commission for interior designer George S. Hunt. Both homes have similar floor plans, with the Gillespie residence having an additional first floor bedroom and slightly larger service quarters. ⁠
⁠
As always, I’m a big fan of the home’s tall, impossibly pitched roof bookended by two chimneys, and it’s clean-lined exterior, which lends the romance of the Norman countryside to sunny Pasadena.⁠
⁠
Project: Residence of Mr. and Mrs. P. A. Gillespie, 1927⁠
Architect: Marston, Van Pelt & Maybury⁠
Location: Pasadena, California⁠
Source: House Beautiful⁠

[source]

It does need a publicly-accessible half bath for guests. I would also punch through from the Kitchen to the Living Room to facilitate better circulation during gatherings. I would put French doors from the Dining Room to the outside where a beautiful lattice-roofed stone terrace could be built. Same goes for the Sun Room that would make a beautiful Office leading outside to a side terrace.

0 comments

Posted on

So Many Possibilities…

I would’ve put a huge skylight over that central area, but that’s just me…

Minimalist design. 13×13 House by ARKRAFT 
287 m² San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico
Photograph Hector Pineda.

Casa 13×13 is a single-family home located in San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, that explores how a clear geometric organization and an introspective spatial strategy can generate a rich domestic experience within a compact scale.
The house is structured around a central open-air void that functions as a courtyard, allowing natural light and ventilation, as well as establishing visual connections between the different levels. This void acts as the main spatial organizer, connecting the circulation areas, social spaces, and private areas.The architecture is defined by a restrained material palette and a precise spatial sequence that prioritizes clarity and continuity between spaces. Instead of relying on large openings to the exterior, the house is oriented inwards, using the courtyard as a controlled space for daily use and environmental connection.
Casa 13×13 proposes an alternative for contemporary urban housing, demonstrating how a rigorous spatial organization can lead to a serene and consistent domestic architecture.

[source]

0 comments

Posted on

As A Dweller In An Arid Climate…

There’s a lot I like about this one. I could see living there.

Es Pou House in Formentera by Marià Castelló
Formentera Spain
94m2
The proposal is divided into three volumes, which order the program while providing it with a smaller grain and in accordance with the scale of the landscape. From south to north, the first volume houses a porch that offers solar protection, the second contains the more public program and the third two bedrooms. Among them are transverse strips that physically separate the volumes, giving them ventilation and lighting, as well as providing them with services and connections. In front of the house, there is a cistern that makes it self-sufficient in terms of water supply while offering a solarium for the coldest months of the year.

From the inside and through the porch, deep perspectives are discovered towards the flat landscape of wheat and oat fields, where the soft and warm color of the earth and the muted greens of the almond and fig trees predominate. The light, color, and material from the outside enter the interior of the house thanks to ceramics and wood, two noble materials that are combined in a subtle and timeless way.

[source]

0 comments

Posted on

I’d Be Happy In Just The Private House Portion

I really like the overall vibe of this.

DĀR AL-ẒILL | دار الظل begins with a simple idea: what if the house didn’t wear Al-Sadu, but let the sun weave it?

Set on a 4,200 m² site in Irqah, overlooking Wadi Hanifah, Riyadh, the residence unfolds through three monolithic limestone volumes, a shaded central courtyard, a dark linear pool, and the signature Shadow Loom an oxidized-bronze canopy that translates Saudi weaving into light, rhythm and shadow.

Inside, warm Riyadh limestone, smoked timber, mineral plaster, bronze and custom furniture create a calm world of contemporary Saudi architecture, luxury interior design and modern desert living. Privacy, hospitality and landscape are carefully layered from the urban street edge toward the Wadi.

Ideator/ Designer: Jad El Mourad

[Disclaimer: Completely AI generated. Not a real residence, project, or commission.]

0 comments

Posted on

Terrace Villa, Ramsar, Iran by Poorkeivan Studio

My 28-year old self would’ve loved this. But my 68 year old self with all those stairs?

And it needs color. I’m thinking of it as a blank canvas to be filled in with brightly colored furniture and carpets.

Villa Terrace: A Layered Response to a Steep Coastal Landscape

Poorkeivan Studio: Villa Terrace is designed on a steep hillside in Ramsar, northern Iran, where a thirteen-meter difference in elevation is transformed from a construction challenge into an opportunity for creating a layered living experience.

Despite the complexity of construction and the increased costs associated with the site, the client intentionally selected a higher location to benefit from wide views toward the Caspian Sea and the surrounding urban and natural landscape.

The main design challenge was how to respond to the steep topography while preserving climatic comfort and creating diverse spatial experiences. Inspired by the client’s desire to experience different framed views of the landscape, the project transforms the slope into a sequence of interconnected terraces.

Each floor is conceived as an individual terrace, where enclosed spaces are carefully positioned according to their functions. The swimming pool, gym, breakfast area, bedrooms, and living spaces interact with these terraces, allowing every part of the villa to engage directly with the surrounding environment.

The north–south orientation of the site guides the placement of openings to maximize natural ventilation and daylight. The terraces extend toward the sea while opening toward the forest, creating a natural airflow system. Sea breezes pass across the terraces and enter the villa through a central vertical opening around the staircase, which functions as a wind channel and distributes airflow throughout the interior spaces.

The façade design reinterprets the traditional metal roofs commonly found in northern Iranian architecture through a contemporary language. The standing seam metal cladding, finished in a grey tone, recalls the collective memory of the region while creating a modern architectural identity.

From the northern street, the building appears as a modest two-story villa; however, entering the project reveals a deeper, multi-layered spatial experience shaped by the terrain. The terraces frame different views of the surrounding landscape, gradually revealing the true scale and complexity of the villa.

By utilizing the potential of the slope, integrating passive climatic strategies, and combining concrete structure, curtain wall glazing, and a metal envelope, Villa Terrace establishes a balance between contemporary architecture, local identity, and environmental responsiveness.

1 comments