Thank you 360 West Magazine for the feature story!

A Houston composer and architect team up to develop a family ranch retreat, conservatory and community venue (By Scott Nishimura)

Excerpt from the story below:

Frazier contacted Garnett as a potential architect for the project after staying at Glen Rose’s Rough Creek Lodge and Resort, where Garnett, 38, has done significant design work that helped catapult his career, including work on The Residences at Rough Creek Lodge.

Garnett met Frazier and his family on the property. “Todd was really a blank canvas, more than any client I’ve ever had,” Garnett said. “He wanted a retreat on or near the lake, a family space, a place to sleep and potentially a guest space. Todd is truly amazing. We have a budget we have to hit. Other than that, I really just went for it. That’s a rarity in my profession.”

Garnett’s rustic, unobtrusive, modern design blends with the landscape rather than competes with it. The buildings are all one story. “We didn’t want to go to two or three stories,” Frazier said. “We wanted it to blend.”

Frazier loves the sight lines Garnett drew into the plan. “They were so well done throughout,” Frazier said. “Everyone has a great view of the lake. But you also have connection among the structures.”

The main lodge is highlighted by a 16-foot barrel-vaulted ceiling and continuous bank of floor-to-ceiling windows that face the lake from the great room, dining room and main bedrooms. Garnett, as he typically does, kept a limited list of materials.

“I don’t like to add a long list of materials,” Garnett said. “I try to keep it as short as possible, and native. It creates harmony with the landscape. In some projects, we quarry stone from the site or from the region.”

The construction team sanded down and sealed the lodge’s concrete floors, exposing the aggregate, including fossils that can be seen in the smooth finish. Other colors in Garnett’s palette, such as in the stone, help draw out ones in the aggregate.