Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty | Know Your Architecture: Contemporary

While today’s architecture encompasses a wide range of trends and styles, Contemporary architecture builds on the modernism that followed the Industrial Revolution. The uniformity and clean linearity of early modernism began to feel impersonal, and Contemporary responded by maintaining modernism’s open spaces but invigorating them with warmth, whimsy, asymmetry and regional flair. Not to be confused with Midcentury Modern architecture, which spans the early 1930s to the late ’60s, Contemporary architecture is very much of the 21st century and up-to-the-minute.

Contemporary architecture’s design cues are distinctive: imbalanced façades; geometric shapes; large windows and skylights; open floor plans; outdoor living areas; sliding doors; and, often, movable walls or partitions.

Famous examples include the Tyler Residence in Arizona, designed by Rick Joy, with rustic materials and austere structures that bring its saturated desert surrounds into relief. In Portland, Oregon, the dramatically cantilevered Hoke House by Skylab Architecture, is nestled among the trees of the Forest Park neighborhood. It was the Cullen family’s house in the hit movie Twilight.

The Contemporary home at 105 Creekway Bend in Southlake is custom-built and quite unique. Its unusual ziggurat design theme is carried through as window and transom shapes, and even the fireplace surrounds in the master bedroom. At more than 4,600 square feet, the home offers four bedrooms in all, three full baths and luxuries galore, including a gourmet kitchen, game room and private guest wing. The master retreat features a large bedroom, full wet bar, spa-like bath and see-through fireplace shared with the bedroom.

On .75 acre, the home also offers a four-car garage. Dramatic walls-of-windows highlight the large yard, surrounded by tall trees for the utmost privacy.

The home is priced $900,000 and is represented by Carol Russo.

To learn more about architecture styles, visit briggsfreeman.com/architecture, a unique source of information, including famous homes, histories and architectural houses for sale.