This weekend is the 2012 AIA Dallas Tour of Homes and this year, we have a house that is participating on the tour. There are 8 houses altogether, and all of them designed by architects. I chaired this committee a few years ago and it was a fun one to put together, I expect that this years group of homes will also be equally enjoyable to tour. I can’t speak for the other houses on the tour but if you go through the house we designed, you will find a few people from our office there and we have all sorts of insider information and construction tales to tell.

If you want to meet me (or avoid me) I will be in our house – the first one on this list – 5035 Horseshoe Trail for the Sunday morning shift. (on a side note, the post I wrote about small projects (here) this house is literally across the street from the house that is one the tour.)

A brief look at all the houses with a project description provided by the architect is down below along with information on how to purchase tickets to the tour at the very end of this post. I hope to see you, make sure you come up and say hello … I’ll be the architect with the white hair who looks surprising young for an old man.

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5035 Horseshoe Trail

Architect: Bernbaum Magadini Architects

The Horseshoe Trail residence, nestled among large oak trees, provides a sanctuary for an “empty nester” couple. Their aim in designing the home was for open spaces in which to entertain family and friends. Mission accomplished with the kitchen and family room opening onto the lap pool and backyard allowing for dramatic views. These dramatic views are also seen from the library outside the master suite which provides the perfect space for more intimate pursuits such as reading. Throughout the home, large open expanses of wall showcase the owner’s photography.

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6035 Prospect Avenue

Architect: Nimmo American Studio

The design assembles large, simple masses and cantilevered planes to create expansive, open spaces within a typical single-family lot. It was a priority to balance the drama of monumental spaces and forms with the serenity of nature. Blurring the boundary between interior and exterior, at some perspectives the residence is completely see-through. From other points of view, forms and objects slowly reveal themselves. The house itself hides behind a large pecan tree as well as an architectural screen and landscaping.

Incorporating sustainable design strategies was made a priority. Examples include addressing solar orientation through the careful placement of openings, overhangs, and landscaping; utilizing a highly reflective roof membrane; omitting heat-storing, attic space; detaching the garage to prevent the transmission of potentially harmful fumes and unwanted heat; and incorporating porous walkways to reduce the impact of storm runoff.

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4223 Shorecrest Drive

Architect: Smitharc Architects

This house for a young family carefully choreographs a sequence of indoor and outdoor spaces to provide both privacy from the street and transparency to the North facing garden and creek. Environmentally sensitive design features integral to the design include Geothermal HVAC, 100% recyclable zinc metal shingles, and locally sourced limestone. Expanses of high performance glass provide ample natural daylighting throughout the interiors. Natural white oak floors, cabinets and trim soften the interior palette.

Sited in a recently redrawn flood plain, the structure had to be elevated 5’ above existing grade. This aided in maximizing views but proved to complicate integrating the new 2-story volume into the neighborhood’s relatively low-slung ranch house vernacular. The architecture responds by reinforcing long horizontal lines, planes, and volumes. The scale of the forms are further delineated by the precisely crafted graphite-green zinc shingles juxtaposed against the weighty and tactile buff limestone.

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3501 Caruth Boulevard

Architect: Tom Reisenbichler

In our world where many associate sustainable (green) design with a bohemian lifestyle, while others consider luxury wasteful, this house is designed to prove they are not exclusive. Integrated tightly into the large iconic trees on the site, this house uses traditional home proportions to blend with the neighborhood. The horizontal lines of the design tie the home to the land, while the roof and balcony reach into the trees making them integral to the home. The design concepts emphasize the entertaining lifestyle of the owner / architect, with open plans that integrate indoor and outdoor spaces. The first level uses a central core (wooden box) as the main organizing element around which public spaces flow. This LEED Gold designed home features many sustainable strategies, from photovoltaic solar panels and recycled materials to native plants that are drought tolerant, every detail of sustainability is considered.

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6947 Coronado Avenue

Architect: Maestri LLC

This Modern Farmhouse built in 2011 and designed by architect/owner Eddie Maestri, AIA, is a traditional archetype contrasted with a modern interior, clean lines, and strong attention to detail. The design was inspired by the architect’s great grandparents’ house in the New Orleans Garden District and evolved with inspiration from Texas/Midwestern farmhouses, as well as the historic four-squares of Old East Dallas.

Ample windows maximize natural light throughout, while porches and patios create the feeling of outdoor rooms. An old-fashioned, second-floor, screened-in sleeping porch is accessible from both the spacious master suite and nursery. The home features an open concept kitchen/family room and is accented throughout by mid-century furnishings. The traditional details of arches and transoms give an elegant juxtaposition against the modern elements of the concrete floors and two-way fireplace.

Antique architectural items, such as doors and shutters from New Orleans, were incorporated into the interior to remind the architect of his hometown, as well as to give the house an eclectic feel. Vintage, reclaimed items and lighting from architectural salvage and local renovation projects were incorporated into the design to give the house a sense of history.

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7019 Lake Edge Drive

Architect: ZERO3

7019 Lake Edge Drive is a soft-spoken, understated, contemporary house located in the Lake Forest gated community of Dallas. It is a home that is able to maintain the integrity of its contemporary design aesthetic, yet complement the more traditional surroundings of this established neighborhood.

The Lake Edge Drive home is all about the art. It was designed to feature the contemporary art collection acquired by the owners, one piece per year, over their 30 plus years of marriage. Through the strategic placement of floating walls, room openings, and controlled views, the art is seamlessly integrated into the living spaces of the home. Because of its central courtyard layout, the home is full of natural light during the day, which highlights the transparency and form of the many glass sculpture pieces. At night it is pleasantly transparent, so that art may be viewed across the courtyard and enjoyed from several rooms at a time.

The Lake Edge Drive home integrates art, form and function, technology and nature to provide its owners with a peaceful, serene, yet stimulating environment for living. It is a home worth viewing.

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4639 South Lindhurst Avenue

Architect: wernerfield

The 4,800 square foot single story residence is located on a 1 acre site in the Preston Hollow area of Dallas. The c-shape courtyard plan is oriented to offer views of a large pond from all areas of the home. The internal courtyard space provides a generous outdoor living and pool area with privacy from the street.

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5002 West Mockingbird Lane

Architect: Victor Sidy, Inc.

This home at Mockingbird Lane for many years was a standard-issue post-war house: good bones but nothing remarkable. Over the past decade, the property has been transformed into an elegant live/work complex with all the amenities of modern life. The original shell of the house remains, politely integrating with the scale of the neighborhood.

From busy Mockingbird Lane, the original roof-line appears beyond a minimalist concrete wall, suggesting the qualities of precision and a delight in materials that characterize the project throughout. From the rear access street, colorful stacked ‘building blocks’ represent the home of the client’s construction company. A sequence of courtyards links new and old, each space unfolding to the next.

At the Mockingbird Lane home, an ordinary house becomes the unexpected origin point for a lively set of functions: living, working, gardening, and entertaining. This project is the architectural expression of the richness of this entwinement.

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DETAILS The Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Dallas) is hosting the sixth annual Tour of Homes. Open to the public, the self-guided Tour will showcase the finest residential architecture in the Dallas/Fort Worth area designed by Texas architects. WHEN Saturday, November 3rd & Sunday, November 4th // 10am – 5pm TICKETS Tickets to the Tour are:

$25 per person, purchased in advanced

$30 per person, purchased at the door

$10 per person, individual home pass Click here to purchase tickets online. *Please note, online ticket receipts must be presented at day of tour in order to gain entry to the homes. Tickets may also be purchased (CASH OR CHECK ONLY) at the homes the weekend of the Tour. Please call 214.742.3242 for additional information.

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