Written By Lynn Hoverson, Photography By Rebecca Britt
If you are looking for a great, stylish, sleek, modern home in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, then hop in a car and take a drive to 1505 Garden Ridge Avenue in San Juan, Texas to see the most recent construction project by Octavio Canales of Arch Homes. You will not be disappointed after making the small effort to drive to San Juan and viewing this architectural sculpture of a house.
“Building dreams, into reality is what Arch Homes does for their clients.”
The time of day that Rebecca Britt took these stunningly beautiful photographs captures the unique feeling you might get if this house became your personal home. Imagine it as you would view it directly from the front, making your soft landing there at the end of a long day. The golden warmth of the matched ceramic lighting beckons you in like a steady wave from the twin organic forms that flank the very solid and secure-looking entrance.
When you stand on the sidewalk and view this house that is a work of art, one of the things that might impress you the most is the fascinating, balanced combination of geometric shapes of the house’s spacious volume and mass, with multiple, different roof lines that lead your eyes all around the visually uplifting angles.
Interceramic Forrester Pith is a high tech building material that merges kiln-fired clay and the visual beauty of wood grain imagery into very durable ceramic tiles that exactly imitate the appearance of real, natural wood. Rodriguez Tile Group
As an emphasis, a special high-tech tile material called Interceramic Forrester Pith was applied horizontally on the area just underneath the roof lines. The name of these ceramic tiles conveys some of its interesting qualities. Although the material that it’s made of is kiln-fired clay, the surface design is smooth and looks like finely-detailed, rough-hewn woods from various trees that have a wide variety of grains and colorings. The outdoor placement of these tiles on an upright vertical surface is uncommon, but it really successfully softens the edges on this house and creates the Earth and Sky juxtaposition of colors against the earthy browns and sky blue paint of the simply elegant, exterior walls. For the future house dwellers, the house has been well-insulated and as another maintenance benefit for a home in the Rio Grande Valley climate, the choice to use Interceramic Forrester Pith all around at the top, on the exterior is a wise financial one. It will undoubtably outlast real wood.
Once inside this thoroughly modern house, the over-all feeling of the interior is superbly modern. If you are not a big fan of modern, then just look at what all these great suspended light fixtures do for the place and you might change your mind. Personally, the best one-word description I could think of is: poetic! The swirling curves of the four fixtures in the open kitchen/living/dining room space look like 3D musical notes to me and are a wonderful complement to the inviting plum-colored and leather two-toned couches.
The blues of the area rug are toned-down and echoed in the blues of the modern Impressionistic wall paintings. In a similar connectedness, the fur textures of accent pillows match the rug and paintings. The bright yellow of the paintings are a point of curiosity that makes you wonder if the painter admired Monet, a great painter of the outdoors. A person could sit comfortably at the table or couches and almost feel like they are outdoors with such a spacious view.
Gourmet kitchen with SS appliance, Sapphire Blue Stone quartz countertops, and high gloss cabinetry doors makes this kitchen a real pleasure to cook in.
The kitchen also has a sleek feeling to it and the mini-malist cabinet spaces have been made expertly efficient for the fortunate people who make this house their home. The clean modern grays are harmonized with the wood coloring of the lower cabinet face fronts matching the underside of the kitchen island which is topped with Sapphire Blue Stone granite.
The super sparkling bathroom sink area also appears to have very efficient use of space. The light fixtures remind me of the edge of an ocean wave when it is lit up by sunlight. The almost-glowing matching sinks and are so much more interesting looking than the older drop-in styles. The large 3D floor tile has been continued into here from the rest of the house as and adds to the flowing sense of overall openness of it.
The cool wall art and sculptures throughout the house are also by the Architect/Builder, Octavio Canales. For additional information and insight into the life and creative mind of Octavio Canales, please enjoy the other writings about him and this Garden Ridge house included as a part of his featured article in this issue of Olé Decor.
The 3D shower tiles gives you the sense of flowing water while180* mirrors allows you to look your best from every angle. Throughout the home Porcelain floors make for a soft touch underfoot.
