Photography by Yanglin Cai
On a corner lot on Clover Lane and Folkstone Road, an alabaster color two-story home sits. It differs from the older ranch-style homes and newer sharp modern homes on the street. The facade is simple and flat — three perfectly symmetrical gables, three shutters and three alcoves framing large glass windows and a door striking.
“As an architect, I wanted to create something very simple in form,” Wonjin Park says. “I wanted to create something that has a simple geometry that’s powerful visually at the same time.”
A brainchild of Park, owner of Studio Park Architecture, and Phuong Vu, owner of M & E Development Homes, the project is a spec home inspired by homes in Alys Beach, Florida. Park references the beach town’s Cape Dutch architecture. Extensive use of gables, whitewashed exteriors and sash-panelled windows are staple characteristics of this style.
The contemporary interior uses light, warm tones in the paint and the floors, vintage brass and natural stone. The fireplace utilizes plaster, adding a “nice texture and softness” to the interior, Park says.
“When we designed the home, we designed a home for the general market. It’s not for any specific buyer,” Vu says. “So we want to stay very neutral, very timeless, very classic.”
Throughout the 5,200-square-foot home, curves are utilized in the asymmetrical arches in the hallways, the dramatic staircase in the foyer, muted alcoves and even the shower.
“We’re trying to be very clean line modern,” Vu says. “Even when a house is really modern, we still add some soft curves just to make it look not too cold.”
This is the duo’s first project to be featured in the annual AIA Dallas Tour of Homes.
Park and Vu, who connected on Instagram after admiring each other’s work, have been collaborating on projects for the past few years. Vu left a corporate marketing career in telecommunications to found M & E Development Homes with her husband. Ten years ago, they started building their home and then got hooked. They started purchasing real estate, designing and building one home at a time without a specific buyer.
Park fell in love with architecture as a high school student in Chicago. He completed his undergraduate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign before attending the University of Pennsylvania for his master’s degree, he then worked at firms in Los Angeles and New York.
They start working on a functional floor plan, often with a family and children in mind, and work outward from there. In terms of form, they like to make sure plugs are hidden, and even consider the depth of cabinets to work with cookie sheets.
“We take into consideration that if we’re living there, that’s what we would want,” she says.
“Everything has to be visually appealing and functional at the same time,” Park adds.
