Contractor: DDL Enterprises
Structural Engineer: Fractal
Photography: Leonid Furmansky
Located in Houston Heights, the Waverly Residence is situated within a neighborhood of two-story homes with front porches addressing the street. With this house, a rotated porch provides a connection to the street while also responding to the family’s desire to maintain privacy for their outdoor lifestyle. The house is pushed to the northern edge of the site in order to maximize outdoor space for play, small dogs, swimming, and smoking brisket (a necessity in Texas).
As one rises the steps to the porch, a horizontal wood band at the ground level, that transitions from rainscreen to fence, defines the public realm at ground level from the private spaces above. Beyond that front gate, an entry procession along the wood deck leads toward the front door. The volume above shades both the porch and floor-to-ceiling windows that create a visual connection between the spaces on the interior and the open yard to the south. Within this yard, the pool and the outdoor kitchen sit at the center, forming an island that divides the open play at the front of the site from the driveway and garage access via the back alley.
Throughout the home’s interior, built-in shelves and cabinets help to define spaces and provide ample storage. These elements playfully alternate between enclosed cabinet doors where things can be hidden and open wood boxes where things can be displayed. The irregular patterns they create help to animate the various spaces with signs of life as you move throughout the house.