This Charming Green Gable Home in Houston Is Pure "Spatial Magic"
Architect Ben Koush’s home blends into the neighborhood—but walk inside, and you’ll discover how he played with space in the design.
Architect Ben Koush’s home blends into the neighborhood—but walk inside, and you’ll discover how he played with space in the design.
People constantly congratulate Ben Koush and Luis de las Cuevas on successfully renovating a Queen Anne cottage in Houston’s last 19th-century working-class neighborhood, the Near Northside. Though there are many Queen Anne and folk Victorian cottages in the neighborhood, a house never existed on their lot of land—until the couple built one in 2018.
As newcomers to the neighborhood, Ben and his husband, Luis, wanted to build a home from the ground up with one guiding principle: respect for the community aesthetic.
"In Houston, there seems to be little concern for what has come before—and a lack of the ability to find value in the neighborhoods (like the Near Northside) that have a well-used, and decidedly informal appearance," explains Ben, who was the architect and interior designer behind the home.
Ben Koush’s studio office faces the street and features a sleek modern desk he designed, as well as built-in bookshelves filled with colorful books and art.
Photo by Paul Hester
"We didn't want to build a ‘statement’ building. To that end, the design uses the scale, massing, and materials of the other houses on the street to determine the appearance of its exterior form," he adds.
The gabled carport and architectural studio sit side by side on the front end of the lot, harmonizing well with Queen Anne and folk Victorian cottages found in the neighborhood.
Photo by Paul Hester
See the full story on Dwell.com: This Charming Green Gable Home in Houston Is Pure "Spatial Magic"
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