Good House(s) of the Week: Texas Part 1 (Patreon)

Since the Texas posts are taking the form of a list of insane houses instead of a single house, for every two bad houses, I would like to present one good house to use as eyebleach. I'm posting this ahead of time in order to inoculate my lovely patrons against the horror show they are about to witness. These houses may not be from the same counties included in the most recent post, as I wanted to save some houses for next week to evenly balance out the atrocity.

Without further ado: 

Collin County, TX  

Lovely proportions and massing make this 2011 McKinney home a clear demonstration that big doesn't have to make ugly. This house tastefully blends influences of the southern colonial (the two story front porches and the three dormers in vertical rhythm with the windows of the other stories) with the simple massing and hipped roof of the Italian Renaissance style popular in the 19th century. 

Kendall County 

If you prefer small, affordable houses, this sweet little 1985 rancher will do quite nicely (with a couple of new pairs of shutters). My favorite part are the wide eaves, extended from the garage to create a protective covering for the path to the front door, a late holdover from midcentury modern. This covered walkway also has the nice effect of extending the lines of the primary mass, creating a strong horizontal gesture that better integrates and balances out the formidable two-car garage. The renovations are more tasteful than many Fixer Upper-inspired ranch reduxes. 

Rockwall County 

Continuing on the older side of our date range, this 1975 transitional colonial-influenced home is adorably decorated and landscaped. Houses like this one are transitional because they retain certain elements of both mid-century and late-20th century plans. This house borrows its low-pitched roof, massing and unpretentious exterior embellishments from earlier split level houses, however it is not a split level and contains a full staircase. It also borrows much of its traditionalist decor and more generous open layout from the later generation of middle class housing where plan orientation became more diversified as homes grew larger overall. While many split-level houses had central, front-entry stairways, this transitional home took a different route and appears to conceal its staircase from "public" view.  The decor is for the most part delightfully original, something I would not change too much if it were my house! 

Denton County 

Despite this 2000 home's opulent and slightly dated decor, its simple form makes it truly stand out in one of the nation's most potent McMansion hells. This five-ranked, symmetrical house is vague in its historicism, but its simple composition tends toward the Italian Renaissance revival featured more prominently in the first house. Personally, I like the blue shutters, which are unexpected in a place that often feels like a sea of earth tones. 

Fort Bend County 

The exterior of this immense 2004 home meticulously recreates the Southern Colonial (a more accurate description would be Southern Greek Revival) homes of the 18th and 19th century Antebellum South. (Their intentions in building such a home may or may not be intensely problematic.) Regardless, the house and its landscaping look like they could be a set on Gone With the Wind, though I highly doubt the very 2004 interiors would be used for shooting any upcoming remakes. Oh well, nobody's perfect. 

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I hope you enjoyed the first round of Good Houses! The first Texas post will be up tomorrow afternoon.