Modern Nature vs Modern Texopean

Regardless of which part of the country you reside in, you usually have a preference for a particular style of home even if you would never see it in your town let alone your neighborhood.  A red brick colonial adorned with forest green shutters, a cozy cape cod retreat overlooking a quiet New England sea side, or minimalist Frank Lloyd Wright naturally tucked into its surroundings.  Reality sets in with home associations, materials available, architecture preference amongst other set backs.

I'm not "against" Texas architecture but I can tell you that the rustic stone and brick with messy mortar combo never made my top 10 list of dream homes.  However, while we get to pick our stone color and brick combination, we don't have too much control to alter the face of the home.  The homes aren't cookie cutter by any means and do have a variance of architecture with the three builders in the neighborhood but a stark modern with smooth concrete and large open windows wouldn't really flow even if we did have the luxury of building it.  Thus the challenge has been, how do we make our home unique, reflecting our style, but not stick out like a sore thumb?

Well, we came up with two completely different ideas that we will present to the architect and see what our options are.

Idea 1: Modern Nature
I shared with your before that I am convinced that the 2011 HGTV Green Home was made with me and my husband in mind.  Since I didn't win that home and am not moving to Stapleton, CO anytime soon, I'm using this an an influence for design ideas inside and out.

What I love about this home is how it is subtly modern.  Its warm and welcoming and is re-imagined from the Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie Style Home.  It uses natural materials that meld nicely into its environment.

This uses a black brick with dark grey mortar, Sherwin Williams "Warm Stone" siding, and a smooth cream stone.  Windows are outlined in the matching tan siding as well.  The design is simple and not too out there.

Of course, we can't change the shape of our home and not sure if an overhang will fit in with the home association codes.  While I love the black brick choice, it wouldn't be an energy efficient option in the Texas summers and it wouldn't be an eco friendly option as that color choice is not offered in the area.

So, we found this as another alternative to the Modern Nature Appeal

Again, warm color and a simple facade.  We still have the squared off roof line in this example but I thought this idea might be easier imagined than the HGTV one.  We would need to find a brick that matches the smooth concrete option and outline the windows and doors with a darker color.  Yes, it's a stretch but I can't break away from this look.

Idea 2: Modern Texopean


While walking the streets of Paris with Beau in October, I couldn't help but admire the beautiful architecture.  The wrought iron balconies, coining on the sides, outlined windows in thick scalloped cement, and bright colored doors welcoming it's visitors.  This is where we really set off on our brain storming.  We considered a Mediterranean style before but not this elegant Parisian look.  Is there away to incorporate a European essence into our Texas home but still have my modern appeal to it?  On our last day we were touring the Montmartre District and came across this building

A modernized version of European architecture at it's finest.  The coloring was perfect as well.  Still wouldn't fit into our neighborhood so we were trying to figure out a way to Texanize it.

Once we got home, I found this picture in a real estate guide utilizing the architecture idea with a Texas spin,  Instead of smooth concrete coining, it uses rough stone.  Of course this is too traditional for my taste (the pool would be nice,).

Using the site from another builder we were thinking of going with, Meritage Homes, I found this example using the window balcony and the white stone lining the bottom of the home and adding an accent pillar in the middle column.

Using these three examples, my husband coined the phrase Modern Texopean and rendered the house plan exterior to look like this.

 In black is the where the white stone would be.  The bright blue would be a smooth concrete surround, and the door in a cobalt blue because how awesome would it be to have a bright blue door.  We did have a rough stone coining along the sides in our first sketch but we both were drawn to the middle pillar adorned in stone instead.

We plan on using a white stone and a grey brick with a dark trim.  Using Acme Brick's website we found this idea that we'll share with the architect.  Bonus is the brick choice is made in the area so adding to our Greenish concept.

Both very different ideas that would be amazing come home to, but then again, even if we don't have much control over the exterior, the interior is where we can get fun.  More on that to come.