Renovation of grounds of 1956-1958 residence by O’Neil Ford
San Antonio, Texas
RBC General Contractors
A 1958 house designed by Texas master O’Neil Ford stood as a pristine object in an undeveloped garden of potential. In addition to redefining the front parking area and building a new retaining wall on the west side of the property to stabilize the terrace, the project’s objectives were to extend the lines of the house to the grounds and stitch interior and exterior together by animating a variety of interstitial and peripheral spaces provided by the home’s footprint.
A new central patio – “the runway terrace” – carries the eye out from the main entry to a new pool that reaches for the horizon, accentuating the strong central axis. The design incorporates the sixty-foot cliff at the edge of the site into the daily experience of the house and makes a strong connective gesture to a major city street in the distance. Smaller courts that offer privacy and a more intimate scale are cooled by artful water features. The exterior architecture is connected to the house through the use of material – Mexican Saltillo tile and brick, both original materials, and galvanized steel plate, which echoes the roofing material. River pebbles are a separating element, a continuous meandering moat between old and new.
