Design Award Entries

Wolfe Residence

Situated in the Markham Hill neighborhood of Fayetteville, Arkansas, the Wolfe Residence is the combination of two houses connected by a central bridge. The individual residences, a main house and a guest house, use the surrounding context as a driver for façade orientation and privacy.

Project Statement

The Wolfe Residence is sited near the University of Arkansas campus, in the neighborhood of Markham Hill. The neighborhood contains multiple Mid Century Modern homes, which plays an important role in the driving principles for the design of the Wolfe Residence.

The residence is situated on the northeast corner of two streets: Garvin Drive and West Center Street. The house begins as an “L” shaped structure, following the existing streets. The residence is then split into two primary functions: the Main House, and the Guest House. These two houses are connected by a two story central bridge. The Wolfe Residence uses the existing street infrastructure to determine the building fronts for the two houses. The Main House uses Garvin Drive as its primary façade, and the Guest House uses West Center Street as its primary façade. By taking advantage of Garvin Drive and West Center Street, an enclosed, private patio and pool area is created. The orientation of the house mimics a typical Mid Century Modern design principle of using minimal windows on the primary façade, and opening the house up on the private side through large, expansive windows.

The first floor of the Main House contains most of the public program, such as the kitchen, living room, and dining room. The public spaces extend onto the upper deck which overlooks the pool and patio area. The second floor contains bedrooms, bathrooms, and closets. The Guest House contains private programming such as bedrooms and bathrooms on the first floor, with more public programs such as a bar, game room, and office on the second floor. Similar to the Main House, the Guest House’s public program overlooks the patio area via a balcony.