Haven Design and Construction was thrilled to receive the invitation to work on this striking Mid Century Modern home in San Antonio. It is truly an architectural gem. During our research on the iconic Terrell Hills home, we discovered that it has a significant role in San Antonio history. The home was completed in 1960, and is believed to have been designed by San Antonio architect, Robert Harris, son of Ethel Wilson Harris. (“The Ethel Wilson Harris House”, the home that Robert Harris designed for his mother, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is adjacent to the historic San Antonio Mission San Jose).
The 1960’s Terrell Hills home that we re-designed and remodeled, was originally designed by Robert Harris and built for San Antonio icon, Bernard Lifshutz, a prominent San Antonio real estate developer, civil rights advocate, and historic preservationist. In 1985, Lifshutz and his business partner would go on to develop the San Antonio “Blue Star Arts Complex,” in Southtown, along the San Antonio River, which is still owned and operated by Lifshutz Companies today. “The Blue Star Arts Complex” was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 and continues to grow and develop, as San Antonio’s first mixed-use development with art studios, loft apartments and commercial spaces. Lifshutz was certainly a forward thinker, ahead of his time.
So, it's no wonder that such a creative entrepreneur teamed up with architect Robert Harris, to design his personal Mid Century Modern dream home in Terrell Hills. The unique steel framed structure was said to have taken three years to construct. It is both an architectural and an engineering marvel, with its cantilevered living room, large expanses of open spaces, numerous skylights and oversized windows. And, we can tell you firsthand that it is still solid! The responsibility that comes with remodeling such an iconic home was immense, not to mention that remodeling a steel framed structure is a feat in and of itself. Our desire was to preserve the beautiful natural light and the open expanses of this home, while still making it livable for today’s lifestyle. The home changed hands several times over the years, with each subsequent homeowner adding their own personal touches, so some of the original MCM features had been lost. It was our job to decide what features should be preserved and what features needed to be modified to work for the current homeowner’s family and lifestyle.
Our clients are huge MCM advocates, which is incredible, because they not only wanted to preserve the architectural integrity of the home, but they also wanted to add back some of the MCM attributes that had been stripped away over the years. We lovingly remodeled the Mid Century structure, careful to preserve and to reimagine as many of the original architectural details as possible. First, we added back some of the warm wood accents that had been previously removed from the home or painted over. Fortunately, the original wood wall paneling was still intact in the sunken living room. The brick floor was also original to that room. And, finally, the original built-in walnut dresser was still preserved in the primary bedroom. We were excited to keep those warm elements. Unfortunately, all of the other wood elements were previously removed or painted over in the kitchen, primary bath and in many other areas of the home. We decided immediately that we would add additional walnut cabinetry and wood accents to warm up the spaces and to tie them back to the original living room’s MCM aesthetic.
Some of the changes to the home over the years were quite refreshing. The previous homeowner installed pewter limestone flooring throughout the home that felt warm and welcoming. This is an element that we embraced and kept. The steel ceiling beams throughout the home were also painted white by a previous owner, but we felt that the bright openness that this created was a beautiful contrast against the walnut accents that we would be adding throughout. The kitchen appliances had also been updated, which was a necessity for today’s modern family.
One of the largest challenges of the project was the home’s original layout, which did not work for our clients. They hired us to re-configure the primary suite floorplan, the main hallway and the adjoining kitchen layout. We also added a small addition to attach the former guest house to the main house. We sharpened our virtual pencils and got to work in AutoCad to reconfigure the existing space to function more appropriately for the family. After several revisions, we found a visually pleasing solution that preserved the home’s aesthetic, while adding some much-needed functionality.
The home’s original hallway featured amazing architectural skylights above, but the primary suite’s closets were lined up along the right side of the hall—which were awkwardly located outside of the primary suite in the main hallway of the home. The entrance to the primary bath was also located off of the main hallway, instead of connecting directly to the primary bedroom. This original layout may have worked in the 60’s, but it was certainly not practical for today’s family lifestyle. I don’t know anyone who would enjoy getting dressed in the morning in the main hallway of their home! Haha We scratched our heads because there was no way that I was going to sacrifice the amazing architectural skylights in that hallway, but we HAD to have a primary closet that was located inside of the primary suite.
Another functional problem was that the home did not have a pantry. MCM closets were historically smaller than the walk-in closets and pantries of today. So, we printed out the home’s floorplan and began sketching ideas. The breakfast area was quite large, and it backed up to the primary bath on one side and it also adjoined the main hallway. We decided to reconfigure the large breakfast area by making part of it into a new walk-in pantry. Dividing up the expansive space just made sense. It gave us the extra space we needed to create a new main hallway, enough space for a spacious walk-in pantry, and finally, we had enough space remaining in the breakfast area to add a cozy built-in walnut dining bench. Above the new dining bench, we designed and incorporated a geometric walnut accent wall to add warmth and texture.
The new main hallway transitions perfectly to connect the new primary bedroom, closet and bathroom. The end of the oblong primary bath was also reconfigured to become part of the new main hallway walkway. Then, we took the original hallway with the amazing architectural skylights and transformed it into the new primary walk-in closet. Who wouldn’t want a fabulous walk-in closet with a full ceiling of skylights? This ethereal light drenched space is a dream to get dressed in. We designed the custom closet built-in’s around the skylights and the home’s unique architecture and it produced a significant amount of storage space for hanging, shelving and also drawer storage. The originally challenging primary closet layout was transformed into one of our favorite new features of the home.
One of the original skylights still lights the foyer end of the hallway before it turns a slight corner to accommodate the new main hallway. A doorway at the end of the new main hallway closes off the new primary suite foyer that connects the primary bedroom, bathroom, and new walk-in closet. We managed to connect and enclose all of the private areas of the primary suite without sacrificing the home’s architectural integrity—a feat that our team is quite proud of accomplishing.
In the primary bath, all of the original features had been removed, except for the low sloped MCM ceiling that was prominently interrupted by a rectangular AC soffit that was added on later. We relocated the AC ducting to vent through the floor instead, and once again revealed the bath’s iconic low sloped triangular ceiling. Then, we began re-creating the new MCM space from the floor up. We widened the original primary bath by 2’ to accommodate an enclosed toilet room, at the request of the homeowners. This was quite a feat, as it required structural engineering to relocate one vertical steel column that interfered with the new toilet room layout. The new 14’ tall steel column, which supported part of the steel roof trusses, had to be extended through the home’s bathroom floor and into a cave underground secured by a concrete pier. Oh, did I mention that this home has a cave under part of it? Haha—when I say that this home was a challenge to remodel, I do mean it was a CHALLENGE.
Another challenge that we encountered during the remodel and re-design was that the home has radiant heat flooring throughout the main floor. This was quite a luxury in 1960 and was innovative for that time period, for sure. The original copper ½” pipe is still imbedded in the concrete and steel slab for heating the floor and we had to be extremely careful not to puncture it when we were re-locating and anchoring the new walls. The original radiant heat copper piping system still works perfectly and has a temperature sensor that will automatically turn on the radiant flooring when the temperature drops below 50 degrees. After much thought, the contractor (who is also my brilliant husband—sorry for the shameless plug—but he really is brilliant), came up with a way to mark the locations of the heated pipes on the floor so that we did not accidentally drill into them. First, we had to manually turn on the system so that the water heated up under the floor. Then, we rented a thermal imaging camera to detect the location of the hot pipes and, finally, we marked the pipes on the floor with blue painter’s tape. This allowed us to safely anchor the new walls into the slab without risking hitting the existing radiant heat floor pipes. Drilling into the copper pipes would have been a major problem and we avoided it with some clever thinking and problem solving on the contractor’s part.
After the structural work was done, we designed a new walnut vanity and linen closet to re-introduce a warm wood element into the space. The pewter limestone floors were patched where the walls were moved, and the stone flooring is carried throughout the new primary suite. We selected vanity faucets that have wood insets in the handles to match the cabinets, and we introduced geometric wall sconces to continue the modern MCM vibe. The mirrors are medicine cabinets that open to reveal storage for toiletries. Finally, the marble wall tile design echoes the MCM style and provides an organic backdrop for the vanity cabinets.
In the kitchen, which was recently remodeled by the previous owners, we wanted to keep as many of the newer elements that were just purchased as possible. However, we did also want to incorporate some new MCM wood accents back into the space to tie it to the living room, dining room and breakfast areas. We added all new walnut cabinets on the refrigerator wall, which balances the new geometric wood accent wall in the breakfast area. We also incorporated new quartz countertops, new streamlined plumbing fixtures and new lighting fixtures to add modern MCM appeal. In addition, we added a geometric marble backsplash and diamond shaped cabinet hardware at the bar and on some of the kitchen drawers.
The kitchen sink is uniquely positioned to overlook the home’s former atrium and is bathed in natural light from a modern cupola above. The original floorplan featured an enclosed glass atrium that was filled with plants where the current stairwell is located. The former atrium featured a large tree growing through it and reaching to the sky above. At some point in the home’s history, the atrium was opened up and the glass and tree were removed to make way for the stairs to the floor below. The basement floor below is adjacent to the cave under the home. You can climb into the cave through a door in the home’s mechanical room. I can safely say that I have never designed another home that had an atrium and a cave. Did I mention that this home is very special?
Moving on to the dining room, we added a walnut bar with an antique gold toekick and antique gold hardware, along with an enclosed tall walnut cabinet for storage. The tall dining room cabinet also conceals a vertical steel structural beam, while providing valuable storage space. The original dining room cabinets had been whitewashed and they also featured many tiny drawers and damaged drawer glides that were no longer practical for storage. So, we removed them and built in new cabinets that look as if they have always been there. The new walnut bar features geometric wall tile that matches the kitchen backsplash. The walnut bar and dining cabinets breathe new life into the space and echo the tones of the wood walls and cabinets in the adjoining kitchen and living room.
Next, we poured a new foundation between the main house and the guest house to connect them. The owners have small children, so their bedroom and bathroom needed to be connected to the main house for practical and safety reasons. The additional space between the two formerly separated buildings provided room to add a new walk-in closet to the kids’ bedroom. The kids’ bathroom previously featured a 4’ long bathtub that was cramped and impractical. The knee space in front of the existing toilet was also quite tight. So, we turned the bathtub 90 degrees and were able to incorporate a standard 5’ long bathtub and also give the space in front of the toilet more room for knee space. The design team wanted to give the kids bath a fun MCM punch that they would not outgrow, so we designed a colorful accent wall of geometric tile, added a wood and chrome faucet and a blue vanity with chrome and walnut cabinet hardware.
Finally, the design team selected MCM furniture and finished the space with colorful art, throw pillows, lamps, barware, books, bedding and home accessories. The clients already owned a few wonderful original MCM furniture pieces that we were able to incorporate into our design, as well.
It’s not every day that we are called to work on a historically and architecturally significant home in San Antonio’s history. This job was quite an honor, a challenge, and a project that we were proud to be a part of. This Terrell Hills MCM home has quite a history and a very interesting story to tell. I am so honored that we were allowed to be a small part of that story.