Old-World Touches Imbue This New Houston Home With Character

Sometimes you know what you want when you see it. Scouring online for local design inspiration, Houstonite Gabrielle Sitomer quickly realized that every house she loved had been built by Brian Thompson. So when she and her husband, Jason Koy, were ready to build their dream dwelling, Thompson was the first and only builder they called. After helping the couple find a lot in Bunker Hill Village, he introduced them to interior designer Alex Elam and architectural designer Ryan Gordon.

With the dream team in place, the owners laid out their direction. They wanted to feel like they had a retreat from the rest of the world, drawing inspiration from old-world architecture while still embodying a highly functional family home for their three teenagers and two dogs. “Creating a balance between functionality, durability and style was important to them,” Elam says.

Gordon gave the couple the Normandy-inspired design that they craved, while tailoring the rooms to suit the needs of a modern family—think mudroom, two offices for working parents, and a game den complete with a pool table and shuffleboard. Outside, Gordon didn’t merely re-create a Norman building, he took the slurried brick, sweeping rooflines and dormer windows and gave the owners deep-set doorways, trellises and covered outdoor spaces to provide much-needed shade in the Houston heat.