Traditional architecture has captured the imaginations of homeowners for centuries, but the influence of modernism has penetrated even the most traditional of home designs. One of the firm’s recent projects is a case in point. With a broad porch and colonnade, from the exterior, this plantation style house in Fairview, Texas appears to be the epitome of the traditional Acadian style architecture so popular throughout Louisiana.

Stepping past the Federalist entryway, one quickly notices contemporary spatial planning and design principles at work.

The open floor plan, a concept in spatial planning introduced by inventive modernists such as Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright,  allows one living space to merge effortlessly with the next. As a result, this home is the perfect example of how traditional architecture has adeptly adopted and integrated modernist principles to create living spaces that support today’s lifestyles.

The living room, dining room, and kitchen are situated in one long, rectangular space that flows effortlessly from one functional area to the next, with only the placement of the furniture delineating one “area” from another.

The kitchen area includes not only the space for food preparation, but also a cozy sitting area, as well as a breakfast nook.

The fluid nature of the open floor plan is further expanded by an extensive outdoor living area, accessed though a system of retractable glass doors.

These doors extend approximately twenty feet across one side of the interior living and dining space and open onto an enclosed porch that contains an outdoor kitchen, complete with its own pizza oven.

Beyond the main living area, contemporary design concepts reach every room of this house, even the bathrooms.
The master bathroom includes a “wet room”, a concept popular in many designer show houses today.  The “wet room” consists of a glassed-in area that contains the tub and shower all in one open space with a linear drain at one end.

This project provided the firm with the opportunity to take the traditional look desired by the client for the exterior and wrap it around a contemporary open space concept on the interior, creating a home that represents the best of contemporary building concepts.