Weekly Inspiration | Houston's Silver Lining

I love driving around the greater Houston area and looking at all the different styled homes.

Houston has no-zoning code inside the city limits. Which is basically why, you can have a residential homes next to a commercial building.

Whether you think Houston's No-zoning code is a good or bad thing you have to admit that it does allow for some pretty awesome design moments when you least expect it.

I like to think it provides Houston with a silver lining! Design Expression!

These are two homes I love!  Both of the neighborhoods are small and in between commercial areas.

 
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-RPT

803 Fairbanks | The Basics

I never like to see the same house replicated over and over again especially when these homes are side by side. Therefore, Power House Investors has taken extra care to make sure that each home we design and build are treated like a "custom-styled" home. Trust me in that,  the easier route is to reuse the ideal plan and make minor adjustments, i.e. flip garage to opposite side or change the exterior colors/material.  BUT we think every home should have it's own distinctive style and make it our mission to design each house with this mind set.

803 Fairbanks was the second home we tackled with our Architects, Brickmoon Design. Since Sunset Heights and Brooke Smith neighborhoods are Lindale Park's neighbor to the west, we designed 803 Fairbanks using inspiration from the Heights craftsman style. While still incorporating the same elements used in 801 Fairbanks like the low-pitch roof and mixed exterior siding we create a design story that connects the homes together.

TWO-STORY SINGLE FAMILY HOME with 2-CAR GARAGE and extra UNFURNISHED SPACE  on second floor for later expansion or use as a Texas Basement now.

BUILDING: 2,720 SqFt 

                 

LOT SIZE: 6,466 SqFt  

3 - 4 BEDROOMS
1st Floor bedroom can be used as a bedroom/office/playroom.

2nd Floor has two secondary bedrooms with shared bath and Master bedroom suite. 

3 FULL BATHS

UNFURNISHED SPACE: 238 SqFt

Ground Breaking!!

What ever happened to April Showers bring May flowers? 

 

{Everyone's lawns have grown like crazy from all this rain! Time to mow}

In Houston and central Texas its been more like April Showers brings May some serious flooding but it is officially JUNE and the sun has come out long enough for us to officially break ground on 801 & 803 Fairbanks! 

Breaking ground sounds fancy like an actual event and maybe it is in large commercial projects but for us, it was just me and my camera taking photos of the "breaking ground" i.e. digging up the dirt so we can level out the ground and replace with new dirt. Sounds glamorous right...?

Glamorous or not, we are so excited to be starting to build these two fabulous homes!! Stay tuned for updates on each project as they develop.

The orange flags show the outline of each property and where the building line is located. The Building line is determined by the City of Houston and/or the Deed of Restrictions per neighborhood.

801 Fairbanks | The Basics

The first house we started designing in Lindale Park was 801 Fairbanks Avenue (Corner Lot at Fairbanks Ave and Irvington Blvd). 

We sat down with our fabulous Architects, Brickmoon Design and started to discuss the over all feel we wanted for this property.  The neighborhood has an eclectic style of home exteriors, taking that into consideration we wanted these new homes to not clash with the existing homes but build on the 1950's style with a more modern take.

801 Fairbanks is the more modern design and we decided on this because it was the corner house and half of the house is facing Irvington Blvd. Keeping with the eclectic mindset, we used a mixed of exteriors; Stucco, Hardiplank Siding, and Stained Cedar Siding. The mix of material really gives the modern home dimension and warmth.  We don't want the home too modern but more as a modernized look of how we see the neighborhoods style develop. 

Another key element that was a must for us was keeping the home efficient in size for the lot.  We did not want to build a monster McMansion but we wanted to maximize the space in the home while still keeping a LARGE backyard. One of the great components of this neighborhood is the deed restricted minimum lot size. For this particular block, the restrictions state, only one home per 5,600 Square Foot Lot.

TWO-STORY SINGLE FAMILY HOME with 2-CAR GARAGE and extra UNFURNISHED SPACE  above garage for later expansion.

             BUILDING: 2,410 SqFt                 

LOT SIZE: 6,625 SqFt  

3 - 4 BEDROOMS

 1st Floor bedroom can be used as a bedroom/office/playroom.

2nd Floor has two secondary bedrooms with shared bath and Master bedroom suite. 

3 FULL BATHS

UNFURNISHED SPACE: 491 SqFt

      

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photos from South Park, Austin TX 2014 Project 

Where to Live Now: 2015’s Top 25 Neighborhoods

Houstonian Magazine named Lindale Park one of Houston's 2015 Top 25 Neighborhoods!

Looks like Power House Investors are hot on the "Under the Wire" neighborhood trail with our upcoming projects.

The articles says,  "Get in now while you still can; these inner-city neighborhoods are on the cusp of change" 

Click below to read the full article .

Where to Live Now: 2015’s Top 25 Neighborhoods

 We are excited to be apart of the change in a most positive way!

Craftsman Style Homes

Craftsman style architecture developed out of the British Arts & Crafts movement ongoing since 1860's. This movement was born in response to the Industrial Revolution, emphasizing handcraft work over mass-production.

"American Craftsman" the style we are most familiar with shared the philosophy of the British movement ... "encouraging originality, simplicity of form, local natural materials, and the visibility of handicraft, but distinguished itself, particularly in the Craftsman Bungalow style, with a goal of ennobling modest homes for a rapidly expanding American middle class. "*

The living areas (Kitchen, dinning, living rooms) were essentially designed around the American housewives with easy sight lines. Even incorporating a breakfast nook for families to share time together are types of all elements that began and developed for the American Craftsman .

When you think of Craftsman Style homes today the Houston neighborhoods must known for this style are the GOOF (Garden Oaks, Oaks Forest) and the Greater Heights area.

Craftsman Style Homes

Key Elements: 

Wide eaves, exposed rafters
Low-pitched roof lines
Porches with columns (square or round) with stone supports
Hand-crafted stone or woodwork
Mixed Materials throughout structure

 Craftsman Styles we are inspired by

Craftsman Exterior by Falls Church Architects & Building Designers Moore Architects, PC

Craftsman Exterior by Charlotte Home Builders stirling group inc

Craftsman Exterior by Falls Church Architects & Building Designers Moore Architects, PC

Craftsman Exterior by Stillwater Photographers John Magnoski Photography

*Information gathered via wikipedia