This Houston Watering Hole Will Make You Think You've Been Whisked Away to the Gardens at Versailles
When it came to crafting a fanciful, Versailles-inspired folly in a Houston neighborhood, Bill Curtis is the first to admit a project like this could go one of two ways. It has to have a sense of belonging, or it wouldn’t work at all. “We don’t want to build willfully; we want to build appropriately,” says the architect. So while the idea for the pergola came from the tented guard shacks at the illustrious French gardens, its style of craftsmanship is rooted much closer to home. “In Houston, in the 1930s and ’40s, local builders were embracing structural metalwork in a highly decorative way,” notes Curtis.
In keeping with these traditions, the pergola’s ionic columns are crafted out of metal cast in sand, which results in a form that’s textural and imperfect. The “tented” details, by contrast, are purposefully smooth: the subtly sloped roof and trim are crafted of precision-cut copper. And both the steel and the copper will withstand Houston summers. “We live in a climate that eats buildings, so we have to use materials that won’t wear away,” says the architect.
The rest of the garden shines like an A-list supporting cast: Star jasmine ivy cloaks a curved wall, a round fountain pool is designed with a modest Texas limestone border, and an arc of Canary Island date palms underscores a sense of play. “The whole idea was to extend an invitation outside,” he adds. “We wanted to create a true escape.”
This article originally appeared in the March/April 2020 issue of VERANDA.
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VERANDA2020 Wold's Most Beautiful Gardens winner for Most Whimsical Watering Hole
Design by Curtis & Windham Architects, with Windfohr Design
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