Our house: Fort Townes
We live here : Myles + Charlotte, and our two dogs Townes and Yuki and our adopted cat Monsoon.
What we do: Architecture, teaching, medicine, baking, and lots of time outdoors.
What first drew you to this home:
In the first picture I saw I noticed the brass bull skull mounted on the wall and took that as a sign it was meant for me. But as I continued to look around the quality and connection to the outdoor spaces made me fall head over heels quickly. Many homes in the price range I was looking at were scorched dirt lots without plants. Immediately this house stood apart with the large picture window looking out to the tree in the front, and a sliding glass door going out to a shaded breezeway. There is also a simplicity to the regional architecture here that leans on material to do the heavy lifting and I connected with that sensibility early on. This house had those characteristics. I truly feel fortunate to have gotten to spend this time in an adobe home, it is such a unique condition.
The latest copy of Orion Magazine and a plate of breakfast tacos with donuts and tortillas provided by Estrella Bakery.
Your alarm sounds like:
Funny enough I do have a specially selected alarm that has quiet gongs and sunrise lights that slowly increase to a gentle wake.
Tuesday morning starts at:
Tuesday morning most likely starts with walking the dogs to Exo with the cat tagging along. I’m probably usually in a bit of a rush, but we are fortunate that seeing neighbors around, friends at Exo, or other dogs at the soccer fields always slows us down and reminds us to slow down a bit and appreciate the sincere uniqueness of the barrio.
The kitchen was the big project from the start. Having some modern amenities here was important to us and with the simplicity of the home I knew it’d have a large impact as a focus area. I spent a year with the kitchen in different configurations before finally committing to a layout. Upgrades to the water system were important to us to improve water quality. I’m not a fan of track lighting and the entire house had track lighting before so that also went very early on for more tasteful accent fixtures, both inside and out.
The doors definitely make such a statement for the house. I guess one door did get touched, but it swung out into the kitchen reducing the usable space, but it works quite nicely now hung as a barn door making the now living room have the option to be a guest room when we have visitors. But even the red color felt iconic and began to drive our color decisions for the rest of the house and decor.
What materials matter most to you:
In this house the adobe really shines. It makes the interior so quiet and noticeably keeps the house cooler in the heat. The light plays with the texture really nicely and inspired me to pay that up with hidden lights that graze the wall texture to amplify it. I love the deep window sills they provide. From time to time a finch will sit on them and watch and for a while a dove seemed enamored with us and regularly visited the picture window sill to watch me at my desk.
