Boulevard Oaks Addition
Listening to the language of the existing historic home, this addition of a new Garage Quarters, Outdoor Living, Pool, and Gardens blends seamlessly with the property’s original character while enhancing its functionality. Natural light, refined detailing, and careful material choices create a timeless connection between old and new, honoring the neighborhood’s architectural heritage while meeting the needs of contemporary living.
Location
Houston, Texas
Design Team
Kevin Barden, Joe Rivers, and Esmer Leija
Typology
Residential
Date
2021 - 2023
Landscape Architect
Falon Land Studio
General Contractor
Heavenly Homes
Photography
Leonid Furmansky
Process
Explore
Albert Cabin
Albert, Texas
Residential
Stepping through the stone wall portal marks a threshold from city life to the quiet rhythms of the Texas Hill Country. The cabin’s warm wood interiors and expansive glazing open to the surrounding oaks and sky. In the mornings, the southeast-facing bath welcomes the first light; in the evenings, the southwest-facing bedroom frames sunsets and starlit skies.
Mike Garman
Furniture Designer
Art and Design
In this episode, our resident architects Joe Rivers and Kevin Barden visit with Mike Garman, a furniture designer and maker from Houston, Texas. Mike has been designing and building furniture in the Houston area for nearly a decade. Joe and Kevin sat down with Mike to discuss his path to designing furniture, his use of tools, and his unique process to design.
Ethos
Kevin Barden and Joe Rivers
Writing
In an essay entitled The Hedgehog and the Fox, Isaiah Berlin quotes the Greek poet Archilochus, “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing” (Berlin 7). The essay was written as a commentary on Leo Tolstoy’s view of history, however, the text can offer an understanding for how one might practice architecture as well. For us, this understanding reveals itself in perceiving the environment as a fox and believing in it as a hedgehog.