and natural light is important to the experience.”
and strips of ipe, a sustainable hardwood most frequently associated with decks. Wommack used ipe as an accent material and framed the porches, both posts and beams, from the durable wood. It’s unusual to see ipe used as framing members for the porches and exterior details, but toughness and density make it an ideal choice, rendering a visually lightweight structure. Millwork is well made and carefully detailed. Mitchell is a reader and his books are orderly arranged in shelves liberally installed throughout the house. All of the millwork is simply designed, with fixed shelves, slab doors, and drawers finished in a glossy white. In the kitchen, the millwork is paired with stainless steel countertops and appliances and accented with custom door and drawer pulls designed by Wommack. At the rear of the site is a second structure – a garage with studio above – reached by an exterior stair, again constructed of ipe in the same straightforward manner. Here, in contrast with the red siding of the main house, Wommack has used green corrugated metal with the line of the corrugations running vertically. The stair to access the upper level studio is an exposed diagonal, screened by a trellis of vertical wires running from ground to roof eave. The light-filled studio is one large space, with a discretely screened bath that still manages to be part of the room. The walls are arranged for the display of photography and the ever-present shelves of books. Many contemporary houses justify unarticulated, non-hierarchical spaces as being necessary for the display of art (usually contemporary art). With 1810 Bermuda, Ron Wommack and his client have seamlessly integrated all the best attributes of an exhibition gallery within a house that looks and feels like a welcoming and cheerful place to live. It reminds us that art is meant to enrich and inform life, not be removed from it. In making a house that incorporates art so beautifully, while still defining domestic concerns in a thoughtful manner, Wommack provides a lesson in what good architecture combined with art can do to make day-to-day life richer and more rewarding. Michael Malone, AIA, is the founding principal of Michael Malone Architects in Dallas. He is the author of The Architects Guide to Residential Design, published in 2010 by McGraw Hill.
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