Chateau donalda

Clients:

CHATEAU
DONALDA

CONTEMPORARY

Jesse designed Chateau Donalda as a contemporary rendition of the Second-Empire-style French Chateau. He sought to capture the grandeur that is intrinsic to this historic design style, referencing the work of great French architects of past centuries such as Francois Mansart. With this in mind, his approach favors proportions, symmetry, and a great number of relevant exterior details. When he embarked on the design process for this home, it was with the intention of capturing the luxuriously ornate exterior details inherent to this design style featured throughout the chateaus he saw during his travels to Paris, Dijon, and the Loire Valley region.

In order to capture the desired architectural character, Jesse had the task of interpreting and refining the details he thought spoke most to the ethos of this design style through the lens of classical restraint he is known for. As a result, the exterior masonry detailing throughout the exterior speaks to this intent. It features a range of Second Empire design characteristics that Jesse redesigned to match the desired character of his rendition, while still capturing the opulence this design style is associated with.

The French Chateau design style, irrespective of what nuanced stylistic classification you look into, is synonymous with the use of noble materials. This made the use limestone cladding and slate roofing a must. The roof cladding is especially important because of the role the roof proportions play in the grand scheme of the design. The symmetrical facades of these grand homes are almost always dramatized by the use of a Mansard roof, providing functional second floor space while masking the height of the structure.

The result is that the proportions of the structure imply a sense of grandeur, with the main floor reaching a height of 13 feet. This allowed Jesse to use both the ground floor windows and front vestibule archway to draw the eye upwards to the dormers that feature both dramatic proportions and similarly restrained details.

The dormers on the front and rear also serve another purpose; to harness natural light into the second floor bedrooms and hallways. Every home Jesse designs is based on an initial sun study, serving to optimize the amount of natural light we are able to harness in each space during their average highest time of use. This approach not only deeply impacts the composition of the design process, it also significantly improves the quality of each interior space. In later phases of this process, you will see renderings similar to those featured below depicting the home’s facades in different lighting conditions, aiding us in assessing the amount of natural light that will hit each face of the home and at what time.

The rendering to your left serves as a testament to the ongoing collaboration with our clients and their builder to accurately bring the home to life. The detailed craft of bringing these masonry details to life is no easy task, each featuring a radius and several step and panel details. Our continued involvement through every detail required to be clarified through the construction process was the deciding factor in how accurately our design vision was brought to life.

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