The Exterior of The 2009 Southern Accents Showhouse

Although you may have seen the pictures on-line, I wanted to write a post about the 2009 Southern Accents Showhouse we finished in August of last year.  I have to say that I cannot be more proud of it.  From the exterior to every single detail, this house is a true showhouse.  However, in today's market of over the top showhouses, our's quite different.  You will not find a multi-tiered theatre room or a pool with waterfalls.  This house is a statement of how to design and build a new old house.

Larry Boerder, the architect, did an incredible job of designing the house in a Cotswold style that would sit beautifully in the English countryside.  The house is set on 2/3 of an acre and was designed to appear as if it had been added on to over the years with two wings off the main portion of the house.   The  hand-chiseled stone is as close as we could find to a Cotswold stone and is beautiful.

The back of the house is every bit as beautiful as the front.  With a large loggia (we did put a flat screen on above the fireplace), classical pool (we did do some simple fountains), over the top landscaping and an outdoor kitchen built completely out of oak beams, the backyard  and back of the house are magnificent.

If you've read my blog very long you know that I usually design most of the homes we build.  This one was a little different but I made sure I designed some part of it -- the outdoor kitchen area above (and many of the details inside).  Although the design is similar to one I had seen before, I incorporated the beam and bracket details Larry designed for the house.  We planted Merlot Wysteria on the corners of the outdoor kitchen to eventually cover the entire roof. 

The sidewalk and driveway are cobblestone pavers that fit the house perfectly.  Notice the large overhang and brackets over the garage.  This is actually one of my favorite architectural details of the exterior.


My next post will be on the interior.  Joseph Minton and his staff did an incredible job of making sure the exterior and interior blend perfectly.  We actually had one lady tour the house who had come from England and commented that the house would fit perfectly in the Cotswold region.  Here's Joe and his staff.

Design Influence for the 2009 Southern Accents Showhouse

When I first met with Larry Boerder to discuss the design of the 2009 Southern Accents Showhouse, I explained my love of Cotswold architecture and how I would like to incorporate it into the Showhouse.  

After traveling to England years ago and spending time in the countryside of the Cotswolds region I was hooked on the design.  One of my favorite buildings of all was The Lords of the Manor inn in Upper Slaughter (the picture with the car in the motor court) which was originally a manor house.  Village after village was full of the architecture that has stood the test of time.  Buildings and homes are mostly all built of Cotswold stone which is a yellow oolitic limestone and the roofs are made of a slate stone.

For the Southern Accents Showhouse, Larry did an outstanding job of designing the house to appear as if it had been added on to over the years (see the rendering in my original post).  The stone we are using, while not yellow, is a close resemblance to a weathered stone and the closest I have found in the U.S. for the proper look.  Ours will be more of a cream and gray color and will have a gray slate roof similar to some of the pictures.

The pictures here are from the Cotswold area.  I hope you enjoy.

2009 Southern Accents Showhouse

Since this is my first post for my new blog, I thought I'd start with an exciting project we are doing in Fort Worth.  My company was chosen as builder of the 2009 Southern Accents magazine showhouse.  The architect is Larry Boerder of Dallas and the interior designer is Joe Minton of Fort Worth.

The house is being built in the new Riverhills development in the center of Fort Worth which is part of the Edwards Ranch that was established in 1848.

The image above is the rendering of the house.  It is a Cotswold style, stone house with a slate roof.  It will have over 8,500 square feet of living space with 7,605 square feet of heated and cooled area and will exemplify an English style house built in the Cotswold region of England, appearing as it has been added on to over the years.  

While we are busy building the house now, we have been working tirelessly with Larry Boerder and Joe Minton to make sure the house is exactly how it should be.  Larry has spent numerous hours on the details, from overall scale of the house all the way down to the beam details.  Joe and his staff are working on precise room finishes.

Starting around the end of October of next year the house will be open for tours.  I will be adding several posts over the next months keeping you up to date on the project.