440 Quentin Ranchito

HOME TOUR OF ARCHITECTURAL STYLES:

Shelley E. Roff, Ph.D.

This house is clearly a direct descendant of the late 19^th-century Spanish-American ranch house, not to be confused with the southwestern ranch-style house made popular in the 1950’s and 60’s. The Spanish precedent is established by a U or L-shape plan formed by single rooms arranged around a courtyard. These single rooms did not connect to each other, but rather, were traditionally accessed only from an exterior portale or covered porch, which wrapped around the interior and/or exterior of the house.

The courtyard at 440 Quentin has now been enclosed and was not designed at a scale that could include a portale, however, the architect does refer to the portale in the residence he designed in this neighborhood at 505 Club Street (see Tour of Straus Nayfach homes). I think Joe’s term “ranchito” is charmingly appropriate for this house, since it is a small-scale picturesque version of the rambling Spanish Rancho, yet constructed in native Texas materials.

The bi-fold chimney stack gracing the house’s front façade the architect’s own creative interpretation and a feature unique to 440 Quentin.

Architectural details such as the mission-style curved stonework embellishing the house’s front façade and the original mission tile floors enhance the Spanish character already established by the historically significant plan of the residence.

This residence does embody a few modern American ranch-style features such as fairly open plan between the living, dining and kitchen areas, yet retains some of the more enclosed formality of the traditional Spanish rancho.

The windows of the house are not the broad expanses of glass that one would expect in a contemporary ranch-style house. Rather, they are proportioned as one would see in an early 20^th century bungalow. This kind of window reduces glare and creates a beautiful, subtle aura of light in the afternoon, not to mention interesting patterns on the floors.