A Max Levy-Designed Northern Hills Modern That Embraces Nature And Warmth

When I spotted this Max Levy-designed Northern Hills modern, I got excited because it’s rare that a house he’s brought to life becomes available.

Levy, for our newcomers, is an award-winning, Texas-born architect with a list of accolades as long as your arm. He’s known for integrating architecture gracefully into nature, and his careful consideration of the way light plays across a landscape.

Whether he has the advantage of working with the never-ending vistas on a ranch or the challenges of an urban site, he creates serenity through simplicity and intentional, intelligent design.

Starting From Scratch

The owners purchased the lot in 2013 and spent the next three years working with Levy and builder Steve McCombs to create their Northern Hills modern dream home.

A few things were essential in addition to that all-important connection between structure and nature. They wanted an appropriate home for their extensive library and a way to display and rotate their art collection. With Venetian plaster walls, you don’t arbitrarily pound in a new nail when you invest in another piece of art.

Levy came up with a custom design that allows the owners to easily rotate and add to their collection while maintaining those beautiful walls. The lighting is also adjustable to perfectly showcase each work of art.

This home dispels the myth that modern design cannot be warm and inviting.

Levy used white oak for flooring, cabinetry, bookcases and even added it to the ceiling of the family area, creating an intimate feeling in a wide-open space. Japanese-inspired shoji screens were also crafted with white oak to separate the principal suite from the public areas and to hide the television and an appliance garage in the kitchen.

The integration into nature in this Northern Hills modern is seen from every window and, of course, from the clean-lined sliding doors that open to offer a seamless connection to the outdoors.

An Eclectic Enclave

If you are not familiar with Northern Hills, it’s a real find.

It’s a lush neighborhood tucked in between the Katy Trail and Turtle Creek. It’s particularly interesting as part of the neighborhood is zoned as a conservation district with a wide variety of original and eclectic homes. Once you cross Edgewater, however, you’ll find some of the most extraordinary modern homes in the city.

Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s Jeanne Milligan and Faisal Halum have this Northern Hills modern at 3628 Springbrook Street available for $2.9 million.