Josh Allen and Alexandra Mendez off Colorado Boulevard features an intimate floor plan. Photo by Kathy Tran.
The first thing many of us check while looking at homes is the square footage, after the price, of course. Our obsession with having the most amount of space possible isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but dialing back and looking at the finer details can lead to a more nuanced experience with one’s home. No matter how much our state’s motto may imply it, when it comes to creating a home out of a house, bigger is not always better.
For Josh Allen and Alexandra Mendez, creating their home started with intention and design followed shortly after. Located directly off Colorado Boulevard near Methodist Dallas Medical Center, the home is not massive.
They don’t believe that’s an insulting thing to say either.
“I always tell people, less is more,” Mendez says. “It’s better to have more quality.”
Especially when considering the soaring costs of housing, living within reason can not only give one a bit more budgeting wiggle room, but it can be a source of inspiration through limitation.
800 square feet. That’s approximately what Allen and Mendez are working with for their home.
The intimate floor plan doesn’t matter to the two, though. From the moment they first saw the house two years ago, they knew that it had the right bones to it. They began the process of turning it into something they could love and relax within.
“When we initially came here on the first day we believed in it so much,” Mendez says. “It looked so creepy, and the fence was falling down. We called our realtor and we were like, ‘This is our house.’”
Neighbors across the road were initially relieved that someone purchased the house, believing that whoever closed on it would bring in a bulldozer to demolish it. To their surprise, the new homeowners were bringing in building supplies and tools.
A natural wood shiplap gives the bedroom a warm, lounge feeling.
“We discovered this, and we were like, ‘Oh my God, this is the best thing ever.’ It was all behind the sheetrock,” Allen says.
The couple worked through layers of drywall and wallpaper to expose the original shiplap from the ‘40s. Claw hammers and saws brought the house back to a fresh slate that Allen and Mendez could build on.
Their home is a true testament to how design can usurp measurements on paper.
The main entrance to the home opens up to an inviting living space, with an open kitchen space divided by a stainless countertop overlooking it. Bay windows face outwards towards the street, and a set of sliding glass doors and flat windows on the opposing side show off an interior courtyard.
Without much artificial light, apart from some accenting lamps and small overheads for the kitchen, the space is comforting and natural.
Light wood furniture and stone accents complement the hanging wood frame ceiling, allowing the eye to wander and explore the fine details of the space, the biggest of which is the patinated fireplace. Clad with a form of mild sheet steel from floor to ceiling, it is a contrasty brutalist element that links the interior and exterior design.
The dining area sits nestled between the kitchen and the outside patio. With temperamental Texas weather, it’s as close to dining al fresco as one can get while still having access to air conditioning.
The remainder of the house is divided into a bedroom and a den, joined by a bathroom.
No one area of the home feels cramped or cluttered. Everything, including Allen, Mendez and their energetic German Shepard, Hampton, has a space in which they fit comfortably.
“We always talk about how home makes you feel, but when we come to our bedroom now, we actually feel relaxed,” Allen says.
Allen and Mendez partner in a design firm called Create Atelier, where they focus on “quality, purposeful and transformational design.” Their cozy home has been a passion project and opportunity to implement that philosophy into their personal lives.
“Everyone, everybody deserves good design,” Mendez says.
