Luxury Leader: Architect Christy Blumenfeld

Christy Blumenfeld was destined to be an architect. Her mother was an artist, and her father was a builder. As the saying goes, “The apple does not fall far from the tree.”

I was lucky enough to have a long chat with her recently and gain some insight into her work and why she is one of the hottest luxury architects in the country right now.

After college at Tulane, Blumenfeld landed in perhaps the best architecture incubator in town, Fusch Architects, where founder Robbie Fusch took her under his wing. “Robbie was an amazing mentor,” Blumenfeld said. “He let me sit in on everything from schematic design to contracts to client meetings.  

When Blumenfeld had children, she began her firm, Blume Architects, in 2003.

“I like to start with a historical style,” Blumenfeld said. “We talk through the images a client is passionate about, then pull back and base our design on one historical style. I don’t mind massaging that style to bring it into 2021. If the bones are classic, the house will be timeless.”

Candys Dirt: What does having a female perspective bring to the party?

Christy Blumenfeld: I think it helps a lot to be a woman in the industry. I can understand and appreciate how a home works in a different way than a male architect. Being a mom and an architect is a good coupling of skills because a house should function primarily for a family.  

CD: What’s your process?

CB: We sit down with the client to understand how they live, take copious notes, and provide them with some homework. Our preplanning phase is extensive. It’s a very catered process for every client because a family with a two-year-old versus one without children has a different set of needs for things in their home. It’s important for us to understand how they use a home, so we spend time in their home and take them to our existing projects.

CD: Do you still sketch?

CB: Yes, every project begins with a sketch. I sketch every house on all four sides before it gets on the computer. Sketching in real-time with clients allows me to craft interior and exterior details that would otherwise be impossible to achieve. We draw everything attached to the house’s interior, fireplaces, cabinetry, bar details, all the way down to where the silverware goes in the kitchen. If you were to put a tiny version of the house in your hand, everything that does not fall out is us.

CD: What do you consider the most important room in the house?

CB: The mudroom! It serves as the staging area that makes your life organized. The devil is in the detail!

CD: What would you say your firm is best known for?

CB: Our porches. I grew up spending every weekend and summer at our cabin in the woods in Alabama. My dad built it and it had decks all the way around. We loved to be out on those decks. In Texas, we can enjoy the outdoors with screened porches. That was my original signature, great porches that open to family rooms. Clients always love it.

CD: What’s different about the way you design a porch?

CB: I like to rotate the porch, so it does not cover the family room windows. I started turning them 90 degrees, so you still get light into the family room.

The garage and porch are the hardest things to place. The garage takes up so much square footage that I try to place it as far away as possible and still be reasonable. I’ll design the garage, then flow through the porch to get to the rest of the house, so the porch has airflow and a view from both sides. 

CD: Do you get asked to repeat a design by clients who fall in love with something you’ve previously built?

CB: I never do the same house twice. People do hire us for our porches, it’s a signature style, but every home is entirely custom to the client that hired us.

CD: Do you provide landscape and interior design in your process?

CB: Yes, we do include the landscaping in our process. Lance Dickinson of DDLA Design is a valuable asset to have on our team. We work together on both the hardscapes and soft scapes. I sketch how It might look, and Lance comes with a hard-line drawing in color, then takes the whole house and puts in a 3-D model. We collaborate with a super talented team of interior designers. A lot of times, people come to us and ask for recommendations. We generally give them six.

CD: What’s been your most fun project to date?

CB: “I spent the last three years on a ground-up home for Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton, and it was the highlight of my career. They are as adorable in person as they are on stage. It continues to be a joy to work with them.

CD: How do new clients find you?

CB: It’s generally word of mouth or Instagram. It’s amazing how much social media has played a part in our growth.  

CD: What would you most like people to know about your practice?

CB: My goal with every client is to create a classic home that stands the test of time. I’m also a big preservationist. If you want to save a historic home, I’m your architect!

You can find Blume Architecture here!