AIA Fort Worth Homes Tour Showcases Five Outstanding Projects

The Fort Worth chapter of the American Institute of Architects is hosting its first full tour since the pandemic featuring five projects from local architects of diverse styles and scales from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16.

The five projects are labeled A-E with addresses to be posted on the Fort Worth AIA site before the tour. You can attend by purchasing tickets for $25 either online via Eventbrite or on the day of the tour.

House A

Completed in 2019, this house of only 1910 square feet on College Avenue packs value into limited space. The project is the product of the architectural team of Jason Eggenburger, AIA, and Steven Halliday, AIA, who head up the firm, 97w. The firm name proudly references Fort Worth’s longitude.

The house has a unique siting near the rail tracks between the historic neighborhoods of Ryan Place and Hemphill Heights. The house is essentially two forceful blocks placed one on top of the other. There is a fireplace at ground level on the east wall. The second floor is oriented around a central stairwell with vertical windows illuminating the space with northern light. A balcony overlooks the street.

House B

House B is the oldest construction on the tour. Built in 1963 it underwent a recent renovation supervised by the original architect Albert S Komatsu. If that name sounds familiar it’s because we have featured his work several times on these pages and he is probably best known for his work on the Japanese Gardens.

The do-over entailed substantial upgrades to both infrastructure and design details. The 97-year-old architect was engaged by the new owners two years ago and his work shows extraordinary vigor and relevance today. I mean how truly incredible. How many artists get the opportunity to revisit one of their projects 60 years later?

The main room has been given added luxury with plank flooring and ceiling with walnut end caps on the marble-faced fireplace. The house has an additional bathroom, laundry room and fiber optic cable paired with a CAT8 throughout to support any data-intensive technologies in the future. 

House C

At 5,100 square feet, the third featured house is the largest residence on the tour. Located on Pamlico Road in Ridgmar, the project is a renovation executed by a collaboration between architect Lindsey Brigati Boren, AIA, and the Austin interior design firm of Butter Lutz.

Every effort was taken to preserve the look of the original structure. The largest change to the structure was raising the interior ceiling height to 9.5 feet. The revised plan centralized the living, dining, kitchen, and lounge and pushed the bedrooms and secondary spaces such as laundry, pantry, powder, and mud rooms to side wings. Each of the four bedrooms now has its own en suite bath. This extensive renovation was completed in a mere 16 months.

House D

For those who enjoy the process, the fourth project by architect Rebecca Palluth, AIA, will be of intriguing interest. The unfinished residence is enviably sited backing up to the west bend of the Trinity River. It is part of a building boom around White Settlement Road within walking distance of hike and bike paths and new restaurants.

The design is composed of bold blocks asymmetrically assembled with sloping roofs and ample fenestration to take advantage of the exceptional views. At this time, the homeowners are still making finish decisions. When completed in late fall of this year the four-bedroom, four-and-one-half-bath house will include 3,428 square feet under roof.

House E

Norman Ward is another name that will be familiar to CandysDirt.com readers. The talented architect is represented in this year’s tour with this 2008 project. The house is conceived as a series of four pavilions linked by breezeways the architect describes as ‘containers of daylight’.

“I found new ways of assigning meaning. For the very first time, I discovered a color pallet for material selections from the site. And in doing so, found a connection with the hilltop. I am amazed by the ever-changing sun’s light and shadows within my house and breezeways. This gave me an awareness of time. These thoughts are carried forward into my selected works,” explains Ward.

Alert and obsessive to the smallest detail, Norman Ward has used native prairie grass, decomposed granite, and basalt gravel to create a landscape that captures water and mirrors the natural Texas biome.