Project Description
Residential-Projects
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Spring Fever
They say it’s all about location, so when faced with a Texas hilltop site that had already been cleared on the gently sloping westward side but tumbled steeply down over rock outcroppings and bubbling springs on the north and east faces, naturally architects Michael Imber and Mac White chose the rocks and water. White, who acted as project manager, explains, “What really engaged us about the site were these two draws that trickled out of the rocks, so we designed the house to tie into them.” The idea of water begins at the entrance. A steel and fir bridge turns a corner just before the front door and passes over the first of three pools that abut the home’s limestone walls. A rain chain above the door fills the shallow pool. The water picks up again just outside the master bedroom, which was situated nearest the two natural springs to take advantage of their playful sound. Steps lead from the bedroom’s terrace down to a splash pool that spills into a holding tank that in turn feeds one of the existing waterways. The second spring has been manipulated to create a waterfall just below the living room terrace. “We wanted to connect strongly to the water,” says White, “because just the sound of it throughout the house has a psychologically cooling effect.”