This project encompassed the renovation and expansion of a residence originally crafted in 1927 by Birdsall Briscoe, a prominent Houston architect recognized for his influential residential designs in the early twentieth century. Situated in Broadacres — a neighborhood developed in 1922 by James Baker, Jr. and master-planned by William Ward Watkin, Rice School of Architecture’s first Dean — the home rests among 26 distinguished house sites where the wide esplanades and the staggered live oak trees transform Broadacres into a unique enclave.

The homeowners had lived with a kitchen and breakfast room layout created by a prior owner in 1996, the only portion modified from Briscoe’s original. They sought a unified, expanded kitchen and breakfast area, a reconfigured butler’s pantry, and a new trellis for the porch connecting the house to the pool.

Our design extended the kitchen’s width southward, integrating it into the spacious backyard. Architectural harmony was achieved by matching the extension’s west façade brickwork to that of the original, thus better defining the glass bay as an intentional extension of the home’s existing brick mass.

The renovated space features a recessed cove ceiling to seamlessly accommodate its functions—kitchen island, seating, and breakfast table. The butler’s pantry, once fragmented across two rooms, became a unified space that connects fluidly with the kitchen, supported by a cohesive paint palette for walls and cabinetry.

Addressing the incongruent rear trellis, the new design replaces mismatched columns with ones that mirror the primary entry, in keeping with Briscoe’s original architectural intent. The updated trellis provides greater visual substance, enhancing the overall dignity and presence of the house.