ARCHITECTURE · 2013Park
Preston Hollow, Dallas, Texas
A pair of low limestone bars flank a long lawn, framing the mature parkland at the heart of the site.
The property's principal gift was a stand of century-old post oaks; the house was pulled back and split into two bars so that the trees remained the dominant reading from every room.
The main bar contains the living and family rooms, the second bar the guest and studio wing; a shaded breezeway links them and defines the edge of the central lawn.
Limestone was cut from a single quarry and hand-laid in long, thin courses, giving the walls the horizontal grain of the surrounding landscape.
A shallow reflecting basin sits between the two wings, catching the western light and returning it to the ceilings of the interior rooms in the late afternoon.