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Architects: deMx architecture
- Area: 2756 ft²
- Year: 2007
- Photographs: Tim Hursley
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Manufacturers: Stucco
Text description provided by the architects. Referencing local precedents, the Bowtie House fuses modernist ideals with vernacular strategies, making use of a linearly organized plan to respond to the Ozark context.
Located by Fayetteville in Arkansas, this house for a couple frequently visited by their family is near the Ozark Mountains. Situated on a heavily wooded site, the 23’ wide house is oriented with its 94’ length running roughly northwest to southeast. This orientation allows tree-filtered light into the house during the mornings and late afternoons.
Sitting on a sloping terrain between two draws, the house’s program is distributed on three levels at the northwest end, with the main floor extending continuously to the southeast and minimizing the house’s foot print. The primary public spaces and the master bedroom are on the entry level to accommodate wheelchair access. The public program consists of the kitchen, dining and living areas. These areas operate as defined zones within one continuous space, opening vertically toward the southeast end of the structure where the living area seemingly continues to the outdoors as a porch. The living space is defined by the surrounding tree canopies rather than by the window walls, thus creating a rich ambiguity between inside and outside. In winter, the defoliated tree conditions allow filtered views of the distant Ozark Plateau horizon.
The exterior is clad in a shell of standing seam Galvalume panels on a stucco and wood board and batten system over a native stone base. The interior is finished out with extensive maple floors, trim, and cabinetry, with large custom maple and cherry doors.
