Showing posts with label english architecture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label english architecture. Show all posts

Period Revivals in Cowtown

6:05 AM home desaint

Fort Worth is known as cowtown -- where the west began.  While that puts images into people's minds of horses, cattle, ranches and cowboys (and we do have that) many do not realize the incredible amount of great Period Revival houses in our city.
Throughout Westover Hills, Rivercrest, Park Hill, Colonial Country Club and Mistletoe (along with others) there is some of the finest examples of period revival architecture in the country.  Here are just a few of my favorites:

This fine Norman-Tudor Period Revival was built in 1930 in Westover Hills to be the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's "Home Beautiful".  It is the flagship of Westover Hills and was designed by Victor Marr Curtis.


This Spanish Colonial, also in Westover Hills, is a great example of a Period Revival and part of what makes Westover Hills a beautiful example of a mix of architectural designs.


I am not sure of the year this house was built, but is next door to the Spanish Colonial above and recently went through a major remodel and is beautiful.


This Tudor Revival, built in 1934 and designed by Joseph Patterson, is a home we did a remodel on a few years ago.  In Westover Hills also, it has a beautiful setting.


At the entry to Westover Hills, this home was built in 1936 and also designed by Joseph Patterson.  I love the iron flag flying on top of the turret (which is the staircase).


Set at the back of Rivercrest Country Club, this incredible Mediterranean villa was built in 1916 and designed by David Adler of Chicago.


Although the picture of the house is not great, the entrance to this English estate, built in 1927 and designed by Houston's John Staub, is one of my all time favorites.


Next door to the above English estate is another Tudor that was designed by Dallas' Fooshee and Cheek and built in 1929.  Both of these houses face #15 of Rivercrest Country Club golf course which is the hole that Ben Hogan once said was the worst hole in golf.

I will do more posts on Fort Worth's beautiful examples of Period Revival homes, as this is just a few of the many.



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What I Should Have Posted Last Year

5:47 AM home desaint

I was recently going through my IPhone pictures and came across some that I never posted of the Southern Accents showhouse during construction that I wanted to share with you.
Oak post and brackets on loggia


The stairhall ceiling under construction

The library paneling in Jacobean style

The ceiling of the formal living room


Wood Mode cabinets being installed in the kitchen

The laundry room Ann Sacks concrete tile, before grout

The outdoor kitchen

The deGournay wallpaper in the dining room going up

The staircase under construction.  Our carpenters built every bit of this in place including the hand-turned newel post finials.


The handmade tile in the formal living room fireplace.  From Ann Sacks and made in Maine.


The Thomas Grant chandelier in the formal living room.

I apologize for not posting these earlier.



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Modern Twist on Classical Designs -- Part II

5:02 AM home desaint

Okay, I've been flooded with emails about my post yesterday.  I guess I've struck a chord that makes me realize I'm not the only one that loves modern adaptations of classical and period revival homes.  The work that some talented architects are doing simply amazes me with their incredible eye for detail, scale and proportions.  Their imagination and ability to take what they see in their head and put it on paper sometimes astounds me.  As I wrote yesterday, there are many failures in trying to do this.  However, another architect (who trained under Bobby McAlpine) is doing it very, very well.  I recently came across his work and have already become a huge fan.  His name is Ruard Veltman and his staff of Ruard Veltman Architecture in Charlotte, North Carolina.  They describe their company as "an atelier residential firm, fluent in a range of historical styles without being bound by tradition."  The designers render their drawings by hand which I love.  While I am not an architect, I do design many of the homes we build.  I have been a student of architecture for many years, drawing floor plans and rearranging furniture since I was 11 years old and I find it impossible for someone to truly put their creative imagination for a design into a computer without drawing or sketching it out first.


Here are some pictures of Ruard Veltman Architecture's work.  The first home is what he calls Jacobean Tudor:

Look at this wine storage.  Incredible.

Here is Ruard's take on a Mediterranean style:


I believe the above picture is a basement level wine room.  The below pictures are of his take on an English Cottage:


Ruard is a very talented architect and I'm looking forward to seeing more of his work.  If you know of any architects doing similar work, please forward their information to me.


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Homes We've Built in Fort Worth -- Part II The Interiors

9:36 AM home desaint

As promised in my previous post, below are a few pictures of the interiors of some of our work over the past few years.  I hope you enjoy.

The above picture is the entry hall of an Italian Renaissance house.  We built the custom made doors that lead to the powder bath and coat closet to fit the antique Verre eglomise which, according to Betty Lou Phillips, is a reverse painting on glass.  The limestone slab floor is from Ann Sacks.  A local artisan hand painted the metallic gold banding and then glazed over the gold bands and silver walls.


This bathroom for our client's daughter consists of 1920's era tile floor and a reproduction vanity that is based on an antique commode our clients had found.

This loggia is my favorite we have done.  The brick flooring was salvaged from one of Fort Worth's oldest streets and encompasses the entire front porch and side loggia.

This powder bath is much more than just a powder bath.  The antique fountain, turned into a pedestal sink, was a chore to make work with the water flowing out of the mouth of the sun face, but the outcome is spectacular.  The venetian walls were done by the same local artisan mentioned above (as were many rooms in the house) and the window surround is limestone.

The other daughter's bathroom is my favorite.  With white Thassos tile, a 1920's era pedestal sink (although it is new) and soft green walls make it a true 1920's style bathroom.

All of the above pictures are from an Italian Renaissance style house in Fort Worth we built and the pictures are out of Betty Lou Phillips beautiful book, Inspirations from France & Italy.  If you don't have a copy of this book you need to add it to your library.  Betty Lou has an incredible eye for beautiful homes.


These two pictures come out of a French eclectic house we did last year.  The client, who is a very talented interior designer, was very specific in her selections and searched long and hard for the furnishings and pieces to be built in.  From the 3" limestone floors filling much of the downstairs, the antique columns, the antique mantels, the antique chandeliers and sconces, the antique iron entry doors and the Gracie wallpaper in the dining room, this house is a true showplace.

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