Budget Breakdown: A Color-Changing House in Dallas Is Built for $584K
LED strips embedded in a polycarbonate wall allow one couple to change the mood of their new home.
LED strips embedded in a polycarbonate wall allow one couple to change the mood of their new home.
"Every day is a staycation," says Lori Louis of the Scandinavian- and farmhouse-inspired home she shares with her partner, Jim, in East Dallas, Texas. Sitting in a primarily 1940s neighborhood, Trammel House affords access to hiking and bike trails for the pair of empty nesters, who’d lived in a historic home nearby for 26 years before deciding to move into a more modern, low-maintenance home that would allow them to age in place. For the task, they called on architect Thad Reeves of A. Gruppo Architects.
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$117,868.80 General Contractor & Overhead Fees |
$41,709.50 Exterior Improvements |
$47,862.35 Concrete |
|
$1,500 Masonry |
$12,094.78 Steel |
$38,648.31 Framing |
|
$41,600 Millwork |
$4,950 Trim |
$48,416.86 Thermal & Moisture |
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$25,953.99 Doors |
$23,832.49 Windows |
$55,916.40 Finishes |
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$6,314.95 Flooring |
$13,103.75 Countertops |
$7,368 Specialties & Hardware |
|
$23,325.99 Plumbing |
$11,996 HVAC |
$36,209.92 Electrical |
|
$25,033.59 Contingency |
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| Grand Total: $583,705.38 | ||
Jim and Lori Louis’s three-bed, two-bath home in East Dallas came to life because of a unique partnership between the couple and A. Gruppo Architects. "They really listened to our goals, embraced our aesthetic, and honored our budget," says Lori.
Photo: Dror Baldinger
"It was a highly collaborative effort," Reeves remarks. The couple have backgrounds in architecture and real estate, and were excited to be involved with the entire process.
One facade features Polygal, a polycarbonate sheet first manufactured in 1970 and now available in various layers, colors, and degrees of transparency. The Polygal used for Trammel House has LED light strips inside, which the Louises play with for holidays and parties.
Photo: Dror Baldinger
While Jim and Lori originally sought to build two spec homes as a real estate investment, they later sold the second lot to their best friends and asked for a redesign of what the architects had developed for the first spec project—a large, two-story dwelling. "With two stories, you save on roofing and foundation," Reeves says. "When they came back, they wanted it to be a smaller one-story with a connection to the outdoors."
The resulting 2,600-square-foot home strikes all the right notes. "It’s clean and straightforward on the outside, but has layers of complexity and a simple elegance inside," says Lori.
"As far as our visitors go, most of them are really intrigued and impressed by the rotating television that separates the living area from the kitchen and allows us to watch wherever we are spending our time," says Lori. "This was one of those ideas that A. Gruppo just ran with and figured out after a brainstorming session one afternoon."
Photo: Dror Baldinger
See the full story on Dwell.com: Budget Breakdown: A Color-Changing House in Dallas Is Built for $584K
