When Dallas artist Melissa Auberty was younger, she dreamed of constructing a house on part of her family’s ranch in nearby Granbury. Architect Joshua Nimmo assisted Auberty realize her dream years later, finding inspiration to the home and studio in vernacular architecture in addition to an unexpected discovery.

at a Glance
Who lives here: Melissa Auberty
Location: Granbury, Texas
Size: 2,570 square feet of living area
That’s intriguing: The house layout was inspired by stunt bottoms found on an early site visit.

NIMMO American Studio For Progressive Architecture

The youthful Auberty had cherished the southern perspectives from a spot about a half-mile from the ranch’s main entry. Architect Nimmo therefore tucked the house to the north side of a huge clearing, opening up the views to the south east. From this view, you can see how in which the house is split into multiple components.

NIMMO American Studio For Progressive Architecture

Nimmo’s drawings and photos documenting his layout illustrate how the program works and what prompted it. The latter is a cow backbone that has been found within an early site visit. In accordance with Nimmo, “The modules of the residence/studio mimic the segmentation of the vertebrae of a spine: main suite plus breezeway and studio and fire pit and guest cabana.” These spaces move from left to right (west to east) on the plan, with the studio having the most indoor square footage.

NIMMO American Studio For Progressive Architecture

A closer view of the south side of the house reveals some of the defining features of the layout: the gable forms, the corrugated siding/roofing, the generous glazing as well as also the “cuts” — just one open and one roofed over. It seems vernacular in shape yet modern in execution, something Nimmo supports: “We began by considering the fundamentals of a window: simple form, generally linear, repetitious, gable, local/humble materials etc.” His staff balanced this with an innovative, sustainable method of the architecture, inside and out.

In accordance with Nimmo, all the substances were neighborhood, and some of the stone was pulled from the website. A stone wall defining the back of the shredder contrasts with the breezeway that divides the main suite from the studio. This path therefore frames the southern perspectives which the client cherishes.

NIMMO American Studio For Progressive Architecture

This view of the guest cabana illustrates the easy type of the architecture along with the simple detailing of the corrugated metal, something I have explored elsewhere. Nimmo picked the material because of the way it reflects warmth, since it is made from recycled steel (which can be recycled later on) and since “it’s an amazing sheen at sunset,” he says.

We could also see in this picture how Auberty uses the house as a setting for her art; one of her paintings is framed by the window.

NIMMO American Studio For Progressive Architecture

The fire pit is easily one of the most important places in the house, no uncertainty relative to the historic relevance of fire. Open to the skies as well as also the southern vista, the area is lined with stone walls on either the studio and guest cabana sides. Steps to the north and the south ends lead from the sloping landscape into the plinth upon which the buildings sit, elevating the significance of this movement. The distance can be nicely scaled for a variety of purposes: creating art, eating, sitting round the fire.

NIMMO American Studio For Progressive Architecture

Following the vertebrae analogy, the job is split into three enclosed areas: main package, studio and guest cabana. But why? The solution is in what is located at the middle: the studio. By removing the main suite and guest cabana from the studio via two open spaces (not just walls), the fumes inherent with painting don’t affect those living spaces. Further, the cutting of the job into three amounts also allows Auberty to zone heat and coolingsystem, turning it off entirely or making one area cooler or warmer.

Sliding doors on both sides of the breezeway allow Auberty to unify the studio along with also the master suite, making a flexible interior space

NIMMO American Studio For Progressive Architecture

The painting studio receives lots of sun through generous glazing, and plenty of ventilation through the sliding doors on both south and north sides. Both these concerns are significant for a studio, but also much sun in Texas can be, well, too much. So Nimmo place some sunshades over the transom windows.

NIMMO American Studio For Progressive Architecture

Partitioning the spaces for a variety of applications into different volumes also results in interior partitions which demarcate spaces but stop short of their outside walls, maximizing the infiltration of natural lighting. Privacy and accessibility that would have been mandatory with one volume happens via the outside walls and open spaces. Here we visit the master bedroom and the bathroom beyond.

NIMMO American Studio For Progressive Architecture

Here we are on the other side of the wall, looking toward the southern perspective.

NIMMO American Studio For Progressive Architecture

One last view shows the personal shower and outdoor area adjacent to the master bathroom. This third outdoor room gives Auberty some solitude and a place for relaxing. It is another thoughtful part in an easy yet very intelligent endeavor.

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