Stephen and Kirsten’s family had grown, and their priorities changed a little. They wanted to move across town to be close to family. It also helped that the first house sold at a tidy profit.

This new house needed to be mostly single-story, modern, but less modern than Lower Springs. Kirsten wanted something with a little more warmth on the interior. They also had some very specific ideas on how the home would function.

They wanted a very open living, dining, and family room. They also wanted clear separation for the bedroom areas and a separate garage space. It took some very real effort (8 different versions), but the result was just about perfect: The Horan.

The challenge was the roof lines. We played with every possible permutation of flat roofs, gabled roofs, and shed roofs that I could think of. But none of them looked quite right.

It all came together when I was meeting with Kirsten one day and she showed me a sketch that she had done. She admitted that it probably wouldn’t work either, but as we were talking I kept looking at it. She had drawn a straight line right through the middle of the house. I asked her what it was meant to be, and she said something like “I don’t know. I just felt that it all needed to be tied together.”

And that was the solution. A white, plaster front covering that seems to float across the front of the building. Structurally, it was a challenge, but not insurmountable. And it does tie in the three different sections of the house. Way to go, Kirstin.

The Horan again features great connectivity to the landscape, especially the back yard and pool. The view from the front is not as good, so we focused our windows and access toward the rear and future pool area.

From the front door, you enter a floor to ceiling glass breezeway. To the left are the bedrooms, to the right the living spaces and straight ahead are the glass doors to the rear patio.

I can’t wait to see it get built.