This sprawling one story, modern ranch home features walnut floors and details, Cantilevered shelving and cabinetry, and stunning architectural detailing throughout.

Our Houston landscaping team was recently honored to collaborate with renowned architectural firm Murphy Mears. Murphy Mears builds superb custom homes throughout the country. A recent project for a Houston resident by the name of Borow involved a custom home that featured an efficient, elegant, and eclectic modern architectural design. Ms. Borow is very environmentally conscious and asked that we follow some very strict principles of conservation when developing her landscaping design plan. In many ways you could say this Houston landscaping project was green on both an aesthetic level and a functional level. We selected affordable ground cover that spread very quickly to provide a year round green color scheme that reflected much of the contemporary artwork within the interior of the home. Environmentally speaking, our project was also green in the sense that it focused on very primitive drought resistant plant species and tree preservation strategies. The resulting yard design ultimately functioned as an aesthetic mirror to the abstract forms that the owner prefers in wall art. One of the more notable things we did in this Houston landscaping project was to build the homeowner a gravel patio near the front entrance to the home. The homeowner specifically requested that we disconnect the irrigation system that we had installed in the yard because she wanted natural irrigation and drainage only. The gravel served this wish superbly. Being a natural drain in its own respect, it provided a permeable surface that allowed rainwater to soak through without collecting on the surface. More importantly, the gravel was the only material that could be laid down near the roots of the magnificent trees in Ms. Borow’s yard. Any type of stone, concrete, or brick that is used in more typical Houston landscaping plans would have been out of the question. A patio made from these materials would have either required cutting into tree roots, or it would have impeded their future growth. The specific species chosen for ground cover also bear noting. The two primary plants used were jasmine and iris. Monkey grass was also used to a small extent as a border around the edge of the house. Irises were planted in front of the house, and the jasmine was planted beneath the trees. Both are very fast growing, drought resistant species that require very little watering. However, they do require routine pruning, which Ms. Borow said she had no problem investing in. Such lawn alternatives are frequently used in Houston landscaping projects that for one reason or the other require something other than a standard planting of carpet grass. In this case, the motivation had nothing to do with finances, but rather a conscientious effort on Ms. Borow’s part to practice water conservation and tree preservation. Other hardscapes were then introduced into this green design to better support the home architecture. A stepping stone walkway was built using plain concrete pads that are very simple and modern in their aesthetic. These lead up to the front stair case with four inch steps that Murphy Mears designed for maximum ergonomics and comfort. There were a few softscape elements that we added to complete the Houston landscaping design. A planting of River Birch trees was introduced near the side of the home. River Birch trees are very attractive, light green trees that do not grow that tall. This eliminates any possible conflict between the tree roots and the home foundation. Murphy Mears also built a very elegant fence that transitioned the geometry of the house down to the city sidewalk. The fence sharply parallels the linear movement of the house. We introduced some climbing vines to help soften the fence and to harmonize its aesthetic with that of the trees, ground cover, and grass along the sidewalk.

ポートランドにあるお手頃価格の小さなモダンスタイルのおしゃれな家の外観の写真

FineCraft Contractors, Inc. Harrison Design
ワシントンD.C.にあるお手頃価格の小さなモダンスタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (漆喰サイディング) の写真

James Florio & Kyle Duetmeyer
デンバーにあるお手頃価格の中くらいなモダンスタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (メタルサイディング) の写真

4" SoCal Brass Coated Modern House Numbers (modernhousenumbers.com) available in 4", 6", 8", 12" or 15" high. aluminum numbers are 3/8" thick, matte brass powder coat finish and a 1/2" standoff providing a subtle shadow.

Natalia Knezevic
ロサンゼルスにあるお手頃価格のモダンスタイルのおしゃれな白い家の写真

Restored front facade to remove the enclosed porch, rebuild the front fence and tessellated entry path. New paint colours and landscaping.
シドニーにあるお手頃価格の中くらいなモダンスタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (マルチカラーの外壁、漆喰サイディング) の写真

Mark Adam
オースティンにあるお手頃価格の中くらいなモダンスタイルのおしゃれな二階建ての家 (石材サイディング、緑の外壁) の写真

Ric Stovall
デンバーにあるお手頃価格の巨大なモダンスタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (石材サイディング) の写真

Yard was just plain basic front yard with rock. Keeping the same rock to reduce the cost, I added some artificial turf and pulled the rock back then re distributed it throughout the rest of the yard where it was thin. I added some trees plants and irrigation. Last I added some concrete paver walk way in the form of steppers.

シカゴにあるお手頃価格の中くらいなモダンスタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (ビニールサイディング) の写真

Alex Geller Photography
デンバーにあるお手頃価格の中くらいなモダンスタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (混合材サイディング) の写真

ハノーファーにあるお手頃価格の中くらいなモダンスタイルのおしゃれな家の外観の写真

The steel and glass addition was inserted into a narrow courtyard between the original ranch house and carport. The addition integrates with the original home while also producing dramatic new elements, such as the large translucent glass window in the front which allows light while maintaining privacy from the street. The front of the original house, which had several different cladding materials, was re-clad in stucco. Photo copyright Nathan Eikelberg

シカゴにあるお手頃価格の中くらいなモダンスタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (ビニールサイディング) の写真

トロントにあるお手頃価格の中くらいなモダンスタイルのおしゃれな家の外観の写真

Street and front yard view.
サンフランシスコにあるお手頃価格のモダンスタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (混合材サイディング) の写真

Project Overview: (via Architectural Record) The four-story house was designed to fit into the compact site on the footprint of a pre-existing house that was razed because it was structurally unsound. Architect Robert Gurney designed the four-bedroom, three-bathroom house to appear to be two-stories when viewed from the street. At the rear, facing the Potomac River, the steep grade allowed the architect to add two additional floors below the main house with minimum intrusion into the wooded site. The house is anchored by two concrete end walls, extending the four-story height. Wood framed walls clad in charred Shou Sugi Ban connect the two concrete walls on the street side of the house while the rear elevation, facing southwest, is largely glass.