We often talk about forgotten midcentury homes as hidden gems, but sometimes the architects behind these gems, despite their brilliance, fell under the radar. Texas’s leading architect O’Neil Ford falls under that particular category. This finely crafted San Antonio home in Texas is a prime example of Ford’s midcentury modern mastery.
Resting on a slight hillside which rises from the street, this 3,075 square meter home is ideal for a family. Built in 1962, the home accommodates 4 beds and 2 and a half beds in addition to a generous open plan kitchen, dining and living areas.
Ford’s homes usually draw inspiration from the Texan landscape. Exposed wooden beams, a hand carved ash wood door and Saltillo tile flooring throughout the homes interior add flavors of the American Southwest.
Indoor and outdoor spaces connect to one another throughout this San Antonio residence, both imperative to the overall ambience of the home. The bedrooms open to private outdoor areas by way of sliding floor to ceiling doors, which also serve to pour in plenty of natural light.
In addition to the private areas, the open plan living space also opens to the outdoor space with sliding floor to ceiling doors. In combination with a wall of floor to ceiling windows that see through the homes central atrium to another living room, transparency is a dominant trait throughout the building.
The atrium, equipped with sizeable skylights, a Koi pond and a wooden deck for sitting amidst a laid-back garden, really brings the inside out and vice versa.
In addition to the home’s central atrium, pairs of windows wrap around another indoor space with skylights, furthering the indoor to outdoor connection of the house.
Mahogany paneling is found throughout the home and a brick wall containing a fireplace rises from between large glass doors in the main living area. Details such as the living room’s table, which bears a natural wood countertop, bring elements of the outdoors inside.
Tucked away well enough to retain privacy, this single family home is only minutes away from downtown, major highways, the airport and medical care.
