People constantly congratulate Ben Koush and Luis de las Cuevas on successfully renovating a Queen Anne cottage in Houston’s last 19th-century working-class neighborhood, the Near Northside. Though there are many Queen Anne and folk Victorian cottages in the neighborhood, a house never existed on their lot of land—until the couple built one in 2018.

Photo by Paul Hester
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As newcomers to the neighborhood, Ben and his husband, Luis, wanted to build a home from the ground up with one guiding principle: respect for the community aesthetic.

“In Houston, there seems to be little concern for what has come before—and a lack of the ability to find value in the neighborhoods (like the Near Northside) that have a well-used, and decidedly informal appearance,” explains Ben, who was the architect and interior designer behind the home.

“We didn't want to build a ‘statement’ building. To that end, the design uses the scale, massing, and materials of the other houses on the street to determine the appearance of its exterior form,” he adds.

Though the Koush-de las Cuevas residence is comprised of three buildings—a carport, Ben’s 500-square-foot architectural studio, and the main living areas–only the studio and the carport, both green with steep-pitched gable roofs, are visible from the street.

This decision was inspired by the architectural design of the Menil Collection building, a Houston-based museum that houses the art collection of John and Dominique de Menil.

“It fits so easily in its neighborhood of 1920s bungalows despite being a fairly large museum building. Renzo Piano, its architect, responded to Dominique de Menil’s request that it appear small on the outside but large inside,” explains Ben. “That feeling of spatial magic and well-being is what I hope to capture in all my projects.”

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Spatial magic is ever-present in the Koush-de las Cuevas house, and it first becomes apparent when you walk between the carport and Ben’s studio office into a lovely side yard.

“We wanted to activate the yard and orient the living areas to a private garden space we would actually use. We ran the house, which is only 19 feet wide, along one of the long sides of the lot, rather than placing it in the center,” says Ben.

The side yard is full of gravel and youthful trees and bordered on all sides by greenery. A pond anchors one end of the yard, while a lounge area with a fire pit is located on the opposite end.

Ben’s studio and the main house are joined by a dogtrot porch with a lattice screen which helps minimize the effects of afternoon heatwaves. Furnished with an outdoor seating area and a large dining table, it’s an inviting spot for the couple to entertain or relax over dinner.

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“The fact that it is four-and-a-half feet above the ground and is equipped with ceiling fans helps keeps bugs at bay without the need for screens,” says Ben.

Shaped like an L, the dwelling has large, inexpensive vinyl windows that run nearly the entire side of the home that faces the side yard, allowing the outdoor areas to meld with the indoor spaces.

At 1,500 square feet, the house is medium sized, but various aspects make it feel much larger, like gabled ceilings, white walls, windows, and a skylight in the bathroom. The same could be said of the interior pine center matchboard flooring that mirrors the exterior dogtrot decking, creating the illusion that the floor extends from the inside to the outside.

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A long, open floor plan adds to the perception of spaciousness and is a subtle nod to shotgun houses, a prominent architecture style on the Gulf Coast that eliminates hallways in favor of more living space.

“The main living area is just one big room, but we differentiated each part of it—kitchen, dining, living—through changes in ceiling height and the exposed steel framing,” says Ben.

The couple brought color and style to the home through a growing art collection and modern furniture, some of which Ben designed—like the desk in his office, the side tables, and the art stands in the living area.

“In our house, we tried hard to make the space feel at once elevated and special, but also ordinary and relaxed, so it could relate to the neighborhood,” says Ben.

As well as it fits into the neighborhood, there is no denying that the Koush-de las Cuevas residence “maintains a distinct identity,” as Ben says, through “minimal detailing, window patterns, coloration,” and a little bit of spatial magic.

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Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Ben Koush Associates / @benkoush

Structural Engineer: Insight Structures