The home’s geometric silhouette echoes the classic typology of the region’s gable roof barns. “We took our inspiration from this vernacular architecture and re-interpreted it with a contemporary twist,” Dworkind says.
To create a better flow, they took out the wall between the kitchen and dining rooms and added a peninsula where they could put bar stools for people to hang out while they’re cooking. They also moved the range closer to the peninsula to create a better layout for entertaining. Finally, the installed new quartz countertops and cabinets. They salvaged some of the old cabinets and repurposed them in the laundry room downstairs.
Organized around a central courtyard, the home’s three modules are oriented to maximize views of downtown Marfa; 20-foot-deep piers drilled below each concrete footing root the structure to the site and help stabilize it against West Texas winds, which can reach 120 miles per hour.
Architect David Hill, his wife, Elizabeth, and their three children (from left: Wade, eight, Luke, six, and Breyton, ten), have an unusual home by the standards of their college-town setting in Auburn, Alabama. Built in 1920, the industrial brick building has had previous incarnations as a church, a recycling center, and a pool hall, among others.
