Great Little Stone House in Texas - Designed by Architect Chris Krager of KRDB

As I often do, I was watching HGTV's show Small Space Big Style (episode HSSBS-410), and was very happy to find this hip little stone house in Texas. Besides its great modern style, modest footprint (1,000 sq-ft), and simple plan, I really like the massive walls. Made of large stone blocks, lifted and set in place by the owner and friends (with lots of determined DIY elbow grease ), the house blends well with the rugged surroundings of the site. It's a very natural construction method that is quite appropriate for the hot, dry climate of the site. It looks amazing too.






Inside, the house has a single great room for living, cooking and dining, and two small bedrooms in the back; one for parents and one for their two small sons. The bathroom is in between the two bedrooms. The large expanse of glass on the great room looks out onto a nice landscape, and combines with a cantilevered patio to melt away the differences between inside and out, and expand the effective living area. It looks like a very casual and comfortable little house. Definitely not short on style.





The house was designed by Chris Krager of KRDB. The firm does slick modernist housing that is also meant to be affordable to people on real budgets. Great looking stuff. You can see more images of this stone house and other awesome projects on the KRDB site - the URL is lividpencil.com - how cool is that!

You can also see a lot more nice pics on the owner's site, Primitive Modern. I was figuring the house to be a vacation cottage, but actually I was wrong. On the KRDB site this house is called the "San Marcos Guest House." When I contacted the owner, Max, he sent me some pics of the house, and the new main house that is being built nearby. Max and his family have been living in their future guest house while their regular house is being built.





Pretty nice, huh? Max says it is almost done, and I can't wait to see what the completed house is like. I see that it has the same great modern style and rugged stone walls. But I'm still most infatuated with the little guest house. I like its natural stone walls, its simple style, and the fact that the owners did so much of the construction themselves. It must be very satisfying to build with your own two hands, using the simplest construction material offered by nature, one that will stand the test of time.

Image credits - Small Space Big Style (HGTV site), Primitive Modern site

See More of Uni's Inspiring Designs

If you read dwell on a regular basis you've no doubt seen the work of husband and wife architects Beat Schenk and Chaewon Kim. The couple, and their unique homes in Cambridge, have been featured twice in the modernist mag. The first house was a great remodel, and then they built three more on their site. But have you also seen the website for the couple's practice, Uni, or Uni's blog, or have you watched them on HGTV's fun show What's With That House (episode HWTH-309)? You can see tons more of Uni's four great houses at these resources. The Uni main site also has lots of links to other places where their work is featured, and more great images there too.

Here's a couple of pics from their blog that I like:








I admire Uni's minimalist style and their DIY attitude. They do great things with simple materials, and they show that high style can be had on a budget. Here's something to watch for - on their main site they show the four houses they've already built, and it looks like two more are coming! No pics yet, but the site shows an "XL," and a "+" which I can't wait to see!

There's also an "H" shown on the site, which Uni designed as their entry to a competition for a wilderness base camp (the Palisades Glacier Mountain Hut Competition). A very cool design for a cool contest. The "H" is based on modules of standard ISO sea containers clad in transparent materials, stacked like building blocks, and powered by the sun. How cool. Here's their entry board:




Good stuff. Definitely a team to keep watching.

Image credits - Uni's Blog, Uni main site

New Video Preview of Building Green - First Full Season Coming Very Soon on PBS

Folks, don't forget to check your local TV listings next week - Building Green is coming soon on PBS. Take a look at this just-released preview of their upcoming first season:





Host Kevin Contreras' house is wonderfully green, and so beautiful. But did you watch the whole clip? Because if you didn't, and if your tastes are on the groovier side (like mine), you'll really like the last few seconds. There are shots of some really eco-hip modern homes that you won't want to miss, and that have me looking forward to catching every episode of Building Green.

I've seen a few of the pilot episodes and they were really good. I'm told they've re-edited the shows for this first full season and that they're even better - plus there are new episodes that didn't air in the pilot run. It's looking like a great first season. The episodes are set to start airing sometime this month on PBS, so check your local listings.

Straw bale walls, blue jean insulation, natural finishes, radiant floors - OH MY!

Tune in to Building Green!

Jorge Gracia's House in Tijuana, Mexico

A couple of weeks ago, before I left on a business trip for Mexico, I made a quick post about a couple of cool, modern homes south of the border. One of the houses was the one Mexican architect Jorge Gracia built for his own family. I was very happy tonight to see that house on an episode of HGTV's show What's With That House (episode HWTH-304). The shows gives a good bit of it's half hour air time to the Gracia house. You get a great look at the sleek abode, and the architect comes off as a really nice guy. Definitely try to catch this episode. Or just go to Jorge Gracia's website for lots of great images. Be sure and take a good look at Gracia's other projects. You'll be impressed. This guy has the stuff.




By the way, I love Mexico. I have a great time whenever I'm there. The country is beautiful and the people are great. My trips aren't to resort towns either. I go to a factory town. It's a different Mexico than what tourists see, but it's the real Mexico, and I enjoy it immensely. I can't wait to go back again.

I'm going to make a real effort to find more of the cool modern residential architecture happening in Mexico. I think there are some real gems to be found there.

Image credit - HGTV What's With That House episode listing

Hive Modular B-Line Prefab House

I've really been enjoying Jetson Green's new Flickr Friday. Two weeks ago there were some nice pictures of the ever-lovable LV home by Rocio Romero. And yesterday's feature was a B-Line house from Hive Modular. I hadn't taken a look at Hive Modular in a while, and the Jetson post reminded me what a great house the B-Line is. It's relatively affordable at $140 per square foot (in the Midwest), they have a great floorplan in the 1780 sq-ft B-Line Medium version (just about the right size), and the houses have a freshly modern yet not too intimidating style. I look at the floorplan and just can't find much to fault in it. They've really made a smart house here. Another strong contender for the Commoner Family's future abode. Here are some pics:





One area where a lot of otherwise really nice prefabs fall short is the floor plan. Too often they try to cram too many rooms into a small space, making the house feel cut-up. Or they just eliminate rooms, like a third bedroom that most families need. Or the kitchen is way too small to be practical. The B-Line really shines in this area. It fits all the typically necessary rooms, all nicely sized, into a modest package with a nice, flowing layout. Great job!

Probably the only thing I would change in this house is to flip-flop the master bedroom upstairs with the downstairs bedroom. If you have two kids it is probably better to put their rooms on the same floor, upstairs, and give the master suite a little more privacy downstairs. That looks like it would be easy to do.

I think that's another reason why the Rocio Romero LVL house is so popular. Like the B-Line, it is affordable, modestly sized, and has a very effective floor plan. It's something you have to get right.


By the way, here's another great example of translucent plastic in use on the stairway and as a half-wall upstairs overlooking the kitchen. As I said in a previous post, that's one of my favorite building materials. There are so many ways you can use it. Also note the small window in the kitchen, which, as you can see in the plan view, looks out onto the front step. It lets you see your guests come up the front walk while you are putting the finishing touches on dinner. There's a lot of good storage in this house too, something a lot of smaller homes lack. Very thoughtful details such as these are what make the B-Line such a nice house.

Hives homes are energy efficient in that they are tightly built and well insulated, and they say in their FAQ section that they will work with any customer to build as green as possible with low VOC and sustainable materials.

If you want to see more of this house, look for it on HGTV's show What's With That House, episode HWTH-107. It's airing again on Tuesday, March 6th - just a few days from now - so don't miss it.

This is a great house, one that I think gets overlooked in the exciting market for modern prefab. Looking at it again, I think it may just have jumped up near the top of my list.

Image Credits - Hive Modular site

Monty Ravenscroft's Peckham House

I became instantly infatuated with Monty Ravenscroft's brilliant little house in the London neighborhood Peckham after seeing it in an episode of HGTV's World's Most Extreme Homes. Built on the tiniest of infill lots (before construction, left), and subject to building regulations that restricted it to only one story, the home's existence is an achievement in ingenuity. The Peckham House is small but large living, thanks to smart design and innovative features. Light and breezes pour into the main living space via a retractable glass roof. The main bedroom looks out onto a small but inviting deck and garden at the rear of the house. Two small, loft-like pods for a child's bedroom and a home office are tucked away overhead. Other fantastic ideas are a master bath open to the bedroom, a spa tub hidden beneath the bed (accessible by sliding the bed over on rails), glass partitions that turn opaque at the touch of a button, and a sink in a drawer.


You can view both a video trailer of the home as well as an animated virtual tour that give you a look at many of its unique features and its fresh, inspiring design. There are tons of great pics in the photo gallery too. The site is very personal. Ravenscroft hints at his struggles to build the home, and the wealth of wisdom he's gained from the experience, which he clearly hopes to build into his webpage so it can be shared with others. The site is still in development, and Ravenscroft is actively seeking feedback from others as to what they want to see and hear from him - so speak up!

Ravenscroft's Peckham house remind us all that inspiration and design are the key to living well. Challenges of cost and space can be overcome if we are willing to take a fresh look at our own notions about what a house should be and how we really live.


Image Credits - Peckham House site

TV Shows That Feature Modern Homes

If you're looking for some good TV shows that regularly feature modern homes, look no further than HGTV. The cable network carries several shows that I watch often.

1. Small Space, Big Style
2. World's Most Extreme Homes
3. What's With That House?

While none of the shows are dedicated to modern houses, all three feature modern homes on a regular basis. They're all good shows, well done, and fun to watch.

Affordable Modern - David Sarti and Upe Flueckiger Houses

If you have any doubt that a fresh, modern home can be built affordably there are two houses you need to look at.

One is architect David Sarti's cool 800 sq-ft house in Seattle. I've been drawn to this home's sunny disposition since I read about it in Dwell a few months ago. There's also a really good Seattle times article online, as well as a nice piece on Metropolis by Karrie Jacobs, author of the recent book, The Perfect $100,000 House. Using simple materials Sarti built a great home on an urban infill lot in expensive Seattle for well under $200,000. The house has huge windows that let light pour in, high ceilings, spacious and comfortable rooms, and an attached workshop. The house is also featured on an episode of HGTV's Small Space Big Style (one of my favorite shows).







The other house is architect Upe Flueckiger’s home in Texas. This house is for a family, has 2700 sq-ft, and cost only $51/sq-ft to build! Like Sarti’s house, simple materials and clever design are used to control cost and make the most of the space. The house is cheerful and clean and made for modern and stylish family living. Flueckiger is interviewed on mocoloco.com. There’s also a nice article on the home at the NY Times website.






I'll keep looking for other examples of great modern homes built on a budget. Rest assured, they are out there!

Image Credits: Seattle Times Article, MoCo Loco Interview

Arkin-Tilt's Five Goals for Green Homes

I've been admiring the work of California based Arkin-Tilt Architects. Reading an article on them a year or so ago really revived my interest in green homes. The presentation of their vision is so appealing and approachable - you can actually see your family living in a house they've designed. But their style is based in substance, as the award winning firm truly leads the way in the use of recycled materials in the houses they build, as well as healthy design and energy efficiency. I visit their site often for inspiration. One thing I like to look at most are the five goals that form the foundation of their practice. They're a simple and elegant roadmap for building great green homes:

1. Harmonize with the Site
2. Build as Little as Possible
3. Minimize Energy Dependency
4. Maximize Resource Efficiency
5. Demonstrate the Beauty of Ecological Design

Architect David Arkin appears on the first episode of a great new TV show that airs on PBS, called Building Green, and cites these five principles as the foundation of green. It was great to watch the show and see a renowned architect talking about the principles on which his work is founded. The show, by the way, is very well done and definitely worth a look. There's a station finder on its website to help you find it in your local programming area.

Image Credit: www.buildinggreentv.com