A Little Rock couple creates the energy-efficient home of their dreams with the help of Herron Horton Architects and River Rock Builders
For Ann and Rick Owen, being environmentalists means always looking for ways to do more. Recycling and limiting waste are part of their everyday efforts, but recently they felt a growing desire to take a larger step—like building a more energy-efficient home.
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Inspired by their Turkish heritage, a young family turns to architects Jeff Horton and Jennifer Herron and interior designer Meridith Hamilton Ranouil to create a modern home that reminds them of their past and gives them plenty of space to grow in the future
Whether you move twenty miles down the road or around the globe, leaving a place doesn’t mean that the place—or its influence—leaves you. Dr. Emre Vural and his wife, Zeynep, found this to be just the case when they started planning for a new-construction home in Little Rock. “We are from Turkey and in the urban areas—particularly Istanbul—there’s a more contemporary design style; it’s very much modern,” Zeynep says. With the influence of these areas and their structures in mind, the Vurals looked to create a home for their family that would bring a bit of Turkey to Arkansas.
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In Little Rock, Our House, Inc.’s new Children’s Center is ready for action thanks to generous time and material donations made possible through a partnership with the local chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers
Imagine a group of 50 children along with their teachers doing homework, playing games, and working on educational activities in a 65-year-old, 7,000-square-foot ambulance garage that is also shared with an adult learning center. Doesn’t sound ideal, right? Until this summer, that was the situation at Our House, Inc.’s Children’s Center. Not only was the program constrained by a number of safety and design issues, it also lacked the ability to accommodate the ever-growing number of clients who are a part of Our House. The directors and the board knew a solution needed to be found to continue the organization’s more-than-worthwhile work.
A New Game Plan
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As a native Arkansan returning home by way of famously au naturel Portland, Oregon, William Wooten is no stranger to environmentally conscious living. “It’s everywhere in Portland,” he says with a confirming laugh, “and it’s exactly what we wanted for our life here in Little Rock.” Serial urban home renovators and builders, Wooten and his wife Rina scoped out downtown Little Rock early in the search for unclaimed land and settled in the Governor’s Mansion District with the help of Herron Horton Architects.
“It’s about working to find a peaceful place to live, retreat and celebrate. The most meaningful client-architect conversations center on how the family will shape a life for themselves over time,” explains Jennifer Herron, whose husband Jeff Horton makes the other half of Herron Horton Architects. For the Wootens, that life is marked by a laundry list of checkpoints: a decidedly small, low-maintenance house amenable to rescuing animals, vegetable gardening, the use of modern, energy-efficient materials and a deep-rooted relationship to the surrounding neighborhood.
The list was no challenge for Herron and Horton, who enjoy creating responsible, eco-friendly homes and define their design philosophy as “building once well,” which includes using vastly sustainable materials. The Wooten home, for example, dons a ribbed metal roof, which is not only a high-performance insulator but also a throwback to William’s first job as a sheet-metal worker. Less conventionally, coated ribbed metal constitutes the exterior siding in a Patrician Bronze hue, which is an aesthetic complement to the rich cedar panels near the front entrance of the home and reminiscent of the traditional board-and-batten exteriors, which are common in historic districts.
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At Home in Arkansas offers you a look inside the state's most inspiring homes. The magazine features monthly advice from the experts to help you plan your next remodel or redesign, entertain at home, or find Arkansas's best kept secrets. It is your definitive guide to the state's finest homes and gardens, design professionals, fashion and entertaining essentials, and premier shops and showrooms.