A House of Contrasts, Bound by Precision.
Stonebridge
Completed
2023
Location
Dallas, Texas
Style
European Modern
Architect
Lionel Morrison
Interior Designer
Brant McFarlain
Structural Engineer
Stantec
Landscape Architect
Mesa Design Group
Was it an unbuildable lot? Steep and shallow. Setback constraints and subterranean water. And nowhere to point the front of the house but west—something few would dare, thanks to the powerful Texas sun, which can sizzle up an afternoon all the way till sunset. But an enlightened homeowner asked for the ideas of a brilliant regional architect, who was so inspired by the craggy limestone lot that he sketched four distinct house designs within hours of walking it.
Now, the resulting home and its sloping site are in beautiful balance — the long, linear house atop the plunging, rolling lot, in sublime contrast.
Allgood/Pfannenstiel was selected as the general contractors from several considered; the homeowner notes that the thoroughness of the bid was a deciding factor, as was a recommendation from the project’s interior designer, who had worked with Allgood/Pfannenstiel before. (A meaningful referral, indeed.)
The build was fraught with challenges, including the narrow uphill street, two other builds happening at the same time and intense site work to cut into unyielding limestone and prepare the lot. The house was planned for the very top of the site, level with the Katy Trail, whose walkers, joggers and bikers become a moving art installation alongside the back of the house. Another unique engineering situation is the long, narrow swimming pool along the house’s front, designed as a buffer to the street and aligned with the crawl-space slab. The home’s precision details called for the utmost artistry.
Its exterior stucco is executed to a smoothness more akin to interior walls. At exterior corners, a chamfered edge through varying materials lines up perfectly. Steel lintels over windows are clad in precision-cut limestone, aligning faultlessly with surrounding limestone pieces and hiding those typically seen supports. The slots for an HVAC return are hidden in a Makore toekick.
What others called an unbuildable lot became a canvas for one of Dallas’s most elegant homes.”
Calacatta Viola, Soapstone, handmade tile from Waterworks, and Oak Millwork + floors anchor the space as light rakes across the Kitchen’s hardcoat plaster walls.
Allgood/Pfannenstiel also identified ways to reinforce the home’s striking cantilevered sections and collaborated with the home’s engineers on the improvements. Inside, walls are of unusually thick, three-coat plaster, complex to achieve and rarely seen. The slots for an HVAC return are hidden in a walnut baseboard. Smoke alarms, normally eyesores on a ceiling, are carefully flush-mounted. The veining in the marble pieces that clad the primary bath’s freestanding tub are carefully aligned, with seams sanded smooth, so that the whole thing appears carved from a single block.
That level of painstaking detail is an Allgood/Pfannenstiel obsession, witnessed again on a long, dark wood wall in the family room: The grain on the lower portion runs in the opposite direction of the upper portion, meant to subtly suggest old-fashion wainscoting but without applied boards and moldings. Impeccable panel joinery was necessary to achieve the illusion; any imprecision and the effect would be blown.
Architect Lionel Morrison imagined a cast-in-place, Class A architectural concrete plinth structure to connect the entry channel steel to, providing an enclosed entryway for walking over the pool to the front door.
All of this makes for a pristine shell for the house’s most remarkable contrast: the warm, worldly nature of its furnishings and finishes. The homeowner had only two requests of the interior designer: Make it global, make it timeless. The mood? European modern. That meant less-familiar pieces—no icons of design—and patina throughout, seen in reclaimed-wood floors, handmade wall tiles, mellowed leathers and vintage furniture and lighting mixed amongst the contemporary pieces.
Clean lines set the stage for the primary bedroom. Its surprisingly rich materiality includes furnishings selected and/or designed by Brant McFarlain, paneling of darkened makore wood (anchored by a fireplace surround of Calacatta Macchia Vecchia marble) and closet jib doors. The bedroom’s entrance features a nested pivot door that folds seamlessly into the wall space when opened (note the door inset into the wall).
