The Del Monte Residence & Gardens is one of several private gardens that will be open to the public on the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program, taking place on Saturday March 23, from 10:00am to 4:00pm. The Open Days Program is a national event that opens some of the finest public and private gardens for public viewing. Tickets can be purchased in advance through the Garden Conservancy’s website or on the day of the event.
Courtyard Residence on Del Monte front facade
Courtyard Residence on Del Monte stone paved garden path
The Bonney Brier Residence is being recognized this year with a John Staub Award in the category of Residential Design, over 5,000 square feet. The house draws from vernacular Texas farmhouse styles with a modern open plan that incorporates the surrounding gardens as living spaces.
The house is also featured in Nice House, a book by Samuel G. White that examines the possibility of residential architecture to support the fabric of a neighborhood with livable scale and congenial spaces.
Established by the Texas Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art in 2011, the John Staub Awards recognize excellence in classical and vernacular traditions in architecture, interior design, and craftsmanship.
The John Staub Awards gala honoring the award recipients will be held on October 20, 2012, at the Dallas Country Club. For more information about the event, see the ICAA – Texas Chapter website events page.
Principal Russell Windham divulges heady impressions of architecture and gardens on the recent ICA&CA “Classical Paris” tour, as posted on the Classicist Blog.
View of the gardens at Vaux le Vicomte with reflecting basins in the distance.
The Summer 2007 issue of New Old House profiles renovations and additions to several structures at a remote Montana ranch and fishing retreat. Based on a chapter in Russell Versaci’s “Creating a New Old House” (Taunton Press, 2003), author Logan Ward takes us through the design process in this ruggedly beautiful and sometimes inhospitable area, where it became clear that this was a project based on editing the existing pieces and responding appropriately to context.
Principal Bill Curtis remarked: “Russell and I are not troubled when a modest solution emerges. We don’t have to do that clichéd response. If we’re going to do a log cabin, it doesn’t have to be 35,000 square feet.” The context was already so strong that “to be more demonstrative would have been out of place.” Read the entire article and see rare photos of the property here.
