Tyler architect's home featured in Dallas Tour of Homes

Sep. 20—The American Institute of Architects Dallas Tour of Homes is shining a spotlight on a Tyler architect's Flint home.

Beginning Oct. 23, the 15th anniversary of the tour will feature geographic expansions of homes outside of Dallas, including a home in Denton and one outside of Tyler.

"AIA Dallas celebrates the beauty and diversity of architecture in Texas homes," said Michael Malone, FAIA, committee co-chair and founding principal at Malone Maxwell Dennehy Architects. "This year's collection features diverse housing options in terms of style and size; including contemporary, modern, rustic-modern, historic renovation, eclectic and industrial styles."

After COVID-19 pushed all tours virtual last year, 2021 will feature a carefully-executed return to in-person tours, as well as virtual options. Seven homes will be in-person only, two will be virtual, and one in Denton will have a hybrid option (both in-person and virtual).

The Sugar Creek modern home located in a wooded setting outside of Tyler, features a new commissioned sculpture by award-winning Dallas photographer and architect Craig D. Blackmon, FAIA and will be available to tour virtually.

The Fitzpatrick residence is home to Tyler architect Steve Fitzpatrick, owner and founder of Fitzpatrick Architects, the largest firm in the state that's not in a major metropolitan area. Fitzpatrick and his team are known for a number of projects completed by the firm, such as Tyler High, the City of Tyler Fire Station 4, Fresh by Brookshire's and more. Recently, the AIA Firm of the Year 2019 is working on the Smith County Courthouse project.

The opportunity for Fitzpatrick to showcase his home came about through his firm being a section of AIA-Dallas, which has hosted many events and awards. It asked architects if they would allow AIA-Dallas to have their homes on the tour.

Most homes architects agree to showcase in the tour have been done for clients and less are architects' actual homes. Fitzpatrick's decision to open the doors of his home for a virtual tour was inspired by lifting the level of design in East Texas.

The home was originally built in 2015 after being designed by Fitzpatrick and his wife the previous year. The home is located near the Cumberland Center, but still in the rural Flint setting within the woods and horses and cows on land. The residence was also shown at the Parade of Homes when it was first built, where many people walked through it.

The single-story home contains four bedrooms, a lounge space or common living area, a dining area, kitchen in one area of the home, which opens to a den area and a hallway gallery that leads into the master bedroom.

The design of the home came from several things in mind. Fitzpatrick's family consisted of three daughters, six grandchildren and a mother-in-law at the time. He said he wanted the home to be a place to gather and host events for small and large groups.

"The whole house is organized. It's open spaces that are interconnected. For instance, there's no wall between the dining room and the living room and the kitchen and the den," Fitzpatrick said.

With every room flowing into each other, in about every direction in the home, there's glass and views to the outside wooded, 3-acre area.

"We wanted to take advantage of daylight and looking outside and taking advantage of the beautiful views into the woods," he said, adding he wanted to connect the inside with the outside. In addition, every living space, such as the living room, kitchen, den, master bedroom and the mother-in-law suite look into a back terrace area with a swimming pool.

The large but private swimming pool, located in the back area of the home, is the focus of the home, Fitzpatrick said, adding it's a good size for hosting parties and events.

"It's really so that everyone in the family can be together, even if you're doing different things. Like if the guys are watching a football game and someone's working, cooking in the kitchen, somebody's watching a Hallmark movie and somebody's doing homework, everybody's in different spaces but you can still see each other and are connected," he said.

Fitzpatrick said much of the structure is steel framework with structural wood decking, which provides large volumes of space. A Daiken HVAC system, LED lighting, and Crestron controls are utilized to manage energy consumption. Steel, stone, metal wall panels, aluminum windows and metal roofing are used on the exterior for longevity and lack of required maintenance.

Additional insulation and energy efficient glazing ensure low energy consumption throughout the home in spite of the very open appearance. Operable awning windows are placed low in the walls for air flow throughout the home. He said the attention to limiting energy consumption resulted in energy usage of approximately 60% of comparable structures.

Fitzpatrick said the home was built to take advantage of sun orientation and the outdoor space; for example, the pool faces south to get sunlight all day long. The back of the home faces east, so shade is provided during summer afternoons.

Fitzpatrick also explained although there's a lot of glass throughout the home and it's surrounded by trees, he designed the sloping and metal roofs intentionally with materials made to last a long time with less maintenance.

For those who will be touring Fitzpatrick's home virtually, he said he hopes they see a home they can visualize themselves in, being comfortable and having a great feeling about taking advantage of views, light and different volumes of spaces being open and connected while also having privacy.

"All homes don't have to look the exact same. You can do something that fits your lifestyle and actually makes your life better and enhances it. When I walk through the house, I've got a great feeling every day because I'm seeing outside and it's just a beautiful place to be," Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick's design and architect inspiration doesn't necessarily come from one specific architect, but from many combined. Frank Lloyd Wright's connection of inside and outside spaces, as well as glass and windows, inspired Fitzpatrick's home. He also studied Richard Meier, an architect who designs modern homes, and took inspiration from his homes.

The self-guided tour will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23 and Sunday, Oct. 24. A variety of ticket options are available to accommodate each tourist's interests. Tour tickets are $45 for the in-person-only tours, and $45 for the three virtual tours. A combined all-access pass to all 10 homes (in-person and virtual) is $75. Tickets are on sale now at www.hometourdallas.com.

Ticket holders will receive access through an app to plan a richer event experience and enjoy content at their fingertips while touring, including maps, images, insights from tour architects, access to the virtual tours, photos, videos, and extra content. The week before the event, the addresses for the homes will be available on the website and on the app.