when i moved to an area in north carolina known as "the triangle" from chicago i thought i would be a little bored with the architecture. at first glance the sprawl of homes and the fledgling skylines in the triangle cities of raleigh, durham and chapel hill were not impressive but I soon began to learn about the pockets of loveliness that are hidden all around as well as the fact that we have the largest number of modernist homes aside from l.a. and chicago. here is just a handful of the beautiful modern homes in the area which are all designed by local architects.
shamlin residence designed by randy lanou of studio b
do you know of any hidden pockets of modernist architecture?
images: james west for cassilhaus, lanning residence, thomas and kay crowder residence and strickland-ferris residence; studio b for the shamlin residence and casey laborde for the phil szostak house.
my husband and i moved into our new house in november and now that warm weather is here, our favorite thing to do is sit in the rocking chairs on our wrap-around front porch. front porches have always been important in the South, as they provide a place to catch some shade and breeze during the summertime. before air conditioning, the porch was often cooler than the house!
now, if we could only figure out how to keep the bugs away.
here are a few inviting front porches from around the web...
i love homes. i love the beauty of an old house and the minimalism of a modern one. i love tree houses and barns and airstreams. i had a friend who once lived in a caboose which was converted into a home with a small kitchen and bathroom. oh, how i envied him! every time i stepped inside, that caboose took me back to a favorite childhood book, "the boxcar children."
i grew up with two big brothers who also happen to be architects and some of this love certainly comes from them. they taught me that not all houses are homes and that one could take a shipping container or two and turn them into an awesome home.
so with that, i'd love to share a couple finds from small house style which is about small houses, but also innovative design. i found two lovelies from texas tonight including this double-wide which was converted into a pre-fabricated sustainable cabin built by urs peter flueckiger with his students at texas tech university.
courtesy of small house style
and the second is a converted shipping container (with a rooftop garden!) designed by jim poteet.
"if architecture is going to nudge, cajole, and inspire a community to challenge the status quo into making responsible changes, it will take the subversive leadership of academics and practitioners who keep reminding students of the profession's responsibilities." - samuel mockbee, who helped start auburn university's rural studio project in 1993 to improve the living conditions of residents in rural alabama while teaching skills to architecture students.
this inspired program continues to this day broadening itself to help the larger community with projects that include schools, community centers and animal shelters. explore their project galleries or check out the many books published about the program to see sustainable and thoughtful design in the real world.
also, check out this clip from a documentary on the studio:
boone, nc architect chad everhart rebuilt this 1930's mountain farmhouse using both local goods and salvaged materials from the original house. he used salvaged pine to make a stunningly red front door, and local white pine was used in place of drywall. his efforts paid off; the house and land cost a total of $159,000! the house is warmed by an environmentally-friendly wood-burning stove, and ceiling fans keep the house cool in the summertime. read more at dwell.
