Carraro Residence

Built in 1990 near Kyle, Texas, the Carraro House is a primary source of what is now recognized as Texas critical regionalism. With style taking a backseat to nature, the project energizes the fundamental design challenge to ‘take what is old and make it new’ by leveraging passive systems, repurposed materials, and simple architectural moves to create inherently sustainable architecture. What ensued is an architecture that has stood the test of time – first as a private home with limestone walls and a Texas-sized screened porch and now as a travel destination for guests and events.

The design team toured the 1920s Alamo Cement Plant in San Antonio, deciding to salvage a 180-feet long, 40-feet wide, and 20-feet tall 1920s steel-framed building. They dismantled and relocated the eight-bay shed and cut it into three pavilions, overlaying them with industrial elements and local materials.

The House’s creative repurposing of existing materials demonstrates a scrappy yet sophisticated take on passive heating and cooling. The stone living room within the screened building forms a wall to the cold winter wind while capturing the cool south-easterly breezes in the summer.

It’s not a house for the city, it’s not a suburban house: It’s a country house. It belongs here, and it has an identity that is related to the region and related specifically to this spot. Francine Carraro

Original Homeowner

HISTORY

1920s Alamo Cement Plant

The tight budget for the project led the architect, client and contractor to “shop” at the old Alamo Cement Plant, a campus of 100-year-old steel buildings being sold for scrap.
The clients encouraged limitless creativity with the only caveat being a small budget.
The design team toured the plant and selected a 180-feet long, 40-feet wide, and 20-feet tall 1920s steel-framed building.
In addition to the building structure itself, metal stairs, railings, roof vents, cement kiln bricks, and a forge were purchased, greatly reducing the construction cost with this recycling.