“This is a new typology about how you can organize around a porch. Instead of it being in front of the house, it becomes the heart of the house and creates this sense of a celebratory, almost civic, space within a very modest residential building.”
— Thomas Robinson, AIA
Location Austin
Client Nils Timmerman
Architect Murray Legge Architecture
Design Team Murray Legge, FAIA, Lincoln Davidson, Luca Sensie, Michael Norris
Contractor Curate
Structural Engineer Duffy Engineering
Civil Engineer LandDev Consulting
In Austin, modest inner-city houses are being torn down to create large, luxury single-family dwellings. In contrast, this client sought to build four super-efficient, compact homes on a vacant lot. The Canterbury House — with two bedrooms, a media room, and a fully detached guest suite in only 1,680 sf — is one of these units. The home’s form is inspired by traditional dog-trot houses, with the courtyard serving as a core that extends living space outdoors. White stucco clads most of the exterior, while the courtyard uses a garapa rainscreen system and is shaded with a steel brise-soleil. On the interior, modest materials, such as white subway tile, stick framing, and plywood bay windows, bring warmth into the living space and bedrooms.