At home in the Hill Country

Southern Living, Sep 1999 by Joyner, Louis

Simple and straightforward, this weekend getaway recalls farmhouses from Texas past.

Patricia and Bill Martin's weekend home began with the land. They bought the wooded hillside site near Wimberley, Texas, in 1989.

"We'd come out and clear cedars and dream dreams," says Pat. "We had the picnic table long before we had the house. We started having our family Easter egg hunt out here two years before we built the house."

When it came time to begin the design stage, they turned to Houston architect Tom Wilson. "They wanted a very informal home that captured the indigenous architecture of the Hill Country," says Tom, adding, "We kept the whole house very simple."

The floor plan that developed is simple indeed. "It is in effect a dogtrot plan," continues Tom. "A gallery cuts through the middle. It's like we took a dogtrot and added doors front and back."

The design consists of a central living space-containing living and dining areas and the kitchen-flanked by two side wings. One of these holds the master bedroom; the other, the guest bedroom. "It's really just a big room with a bedroom and bath on each end," says Pat.

At the front, a deep porch extends across the main body of the house. The portion of the porch to the left of the front door is glassed in, appearing to be a later addition. But the architect planned this glass-wrapped room from the beginning as an office for Pat. "I carefully detailed it so it looked like it was once open and then we enclosed it, as so often happened with old farmhouses," explains Tom.

Materials chosen also reflect the location of the property-in the rolling hills west of Austin. The limestone came from a local quarry. The SV-crimp metal roof offers a practical alternative to shingles. "That's what one sees on Texas farmhouses," says Pat. "In nearby New Braunfels that was the law." (A metal roof offers protection from fire.) "It has that wonderful country look," says the architect. "You've seen it for years."

Inside, the materials are used honestly. The 2 x 12 ceiling joists in the main space are exposed. "It gives it some added height by not putting a ceiling on the joists," says Tom. "But you do need a better grade of framing lumber." He suggests using #1 instead of #2. The exposed joists and the attic subflooring, visible from below, were wiped with an exterior stain to give the wood a slightly weathered tone to keep it from looking like raw wood.

To support the ceiling joists, the architect ran two large laminated wood seams from the front door to the back. These eliminate the need for loadrearing walls in the central space, allowing an open plan. "It makes a small space perform like a larger room," says Tom. In addition, the two beams help define the center hall of the house.

The 27- x 30-foot main space includes a comfortable seating area gathered around a 12-foot-wide limestone fireplace. Niches display art and recess the television. In the dining room a table and chairs-Stickley originals-share space with a simple shelf unit displaying glass jars of preserved vegetables. Houston designer Michael Parten utilized the things the Martins had collected to achieve the casual, uncontrived look the owners wanted.

Because the kitchen opens to the rest of the main living space, the architect located the largest appliances-the refrigerator and oven-against the front wall of the kitchen where they are less visible. The 4- x 6-foot island was designed to look like a piece of furniture rather than a built-in.

Stretching across the rear of the house, the screened porch functions as an extension of the indoor living spaces. "It's set up for living and dining," says the architect. Measuring 16 x 25 feet, the porch provides 180-degree views of the valley and hills. To avoid impinging on the view, black fiberglass screening was used, with a minimum of framing. "The dark color is much more transparent," explains Tom.

For the master and guest bedrooms, the architect designed a limestone fireplace. "We raised the firebox to be more visible," he says. "In a small room, if you put the firebox down on the floor it is hard to see"-especially if it's on the other side of the bed from the doorway.

Upstairs, Tom designed a large, open attic that Bill uses as his office and writing retreat. It also doubles as a bunk room when the Martins' grandchildren visit. The architect detailed the space so it could be divided into several bedrooms at a later date.

But it is still the wooded hillside site that holds the Martins to this place. "We've been happy to have preserved so many trees. They make a difference," says Bill. "In any season, you're likely to find us sitting out on a porch in the morning, watching the deer," says Pat. Louis Joyner

AT HOME IN THE HILL COUNTRY

Pages 148-152: Architecture by Tom Wilson, Tom Wilson & Associates, 2809 Virginia, Houston, TX 77098, (713) 523-7451, offices also in Dallas, (214) 526-5606.

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