The most recent addition of Lexington's contemporary architecture is thoughtSPACE's "Indigenious Modern" house on the corner of Richmond Road and Richmond Avenue. It's exciting to see something built that reflects today on a respectable street that reminds me of New Orleans in a lot of ways.
The house's biggest exterior feature is a continuous cladding detail of vertical wood boards sandwiched between thin metal strips. The large formal gesture is reminiscent of the dutch modern style with large cantilevered lines articulating the massing. The front porch is a modern twist on the neighbors through its unsymmetrical appearance and random sized columns holding up the roof. The push and pull of massing creates an assorted understanding of the house, for example, the front facade looks different from the southeast than the northwest kind of blurring one's understanding of the facade.
The back yard features a really cool bridge that connects the master bedroom with a room above the garage.
The interior (from looking in the windows) features what appears to be reclaimed wood and with modern clean lines and finishes. The only item that has me questioning the textbook contemporary style is a large metal graphic of leaves/grass that serves as the guardrail for the stairs. Perhaps this was the indigenous part of the architect's term of "Indigenous Modern."
This house is a great addition of architecture in Lexington and deserves praise. Unfortunately, some people aren't warming to the building according to an interview in the Chevy Chase with the architect, John Steven Dehart. I would be surprised if modern architecture didn't face some level of opposition in any american community, but at some point we have to move from the architecture of the past and be true to the period of design that we live in today.
Check out more photos from my recent visit here.