For the most part, the project was based on pure value engineering. The purist roof profile and the number of homes–nine–weren’t entirely aesthetic decisions, though. “The simplicity and privacy offered by Row is in direct response to the complexity and loss of privacy we are all experiencing due to being interconnected and ‘on’ all the time,” Ford adds. The two-story, 1,900-square foot homes are simple and light, with silhouettes inspired by Hugh Newell Jacobsen, a champion amongst vernacular American architecture fans. Shannon stayed in the unit whenever he was in town, making suggestions about the design that ultimately led to the final, revised layouts for the other eight homes they planned to build on the site. “We, as a firm, try to look beyond spread sheets and historical data to offer solutions for problems people may not even know they have.”īack in 2011, the Fords (working with an investor friend, the airport developer Holden Shannon) bought a plot of land in the Heights and built a single town home on it. “We feel there is a real desire for this kind of living,” Matthew told me recently over email. The row of townhomes in Houston Heights, a hip-ish downtown neighborhood, is a study in careful compromises–both economically and environmentally.
Shade’s flagship project, Row on 25th, was profiled in the February issue of Dwell.
The Fords’ new company, Shade House Development, builds sustainable townhomes in downtown Houston.
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