our architectural inspiration

In working with our architect to design our house's new exterior, we looked at a lot of photos of contemporary houses, but also at a lot of pictures of barns, barn-like structures (e.g., the beautiful Luck Stone showroom), and barn-inspired houses. We liked the idea of drawing on the "agricultural vernacular" (as Architectural Digest might put it) in the style of architects such as Margaret McCurry.

But nothing completely clicked until a visit to Duke Gardens while I was at Duke University heading up a two-week leadership institute for gifted high school students (see my consulting website to read more about this and other projects I've completed). Bob and I loved the look of the visitor's center there, took a bunch of photos, and gave them to our architect, the creative and collaborative Scott Broaddus of spb studio. Scott came up with a terrific design inspired by the photos, and together he and I tweaked it until it became what it is today. Take a look at the before and after pics of our exterior, and see if you can see the resemblance.