Renowned architects Bill Curtis and Russell Windham celebrated the launch of their stunning new book "Building on Tradition: The Work of Curtis & Windham Architects" at an elegant gathering hosted by Windfohr Design at the River Oaks home of Windi and David Grimes. The event, attended by clients, close friends, and family including their respective wives Jane Curtis and Valette Windham, took place in the salon of the classical French-style home the firm designed in 2011, commemorating 35 years of exceptional architectural achievement.
The Curtis & Windham architectural style has become synonymous with sophisticated design elements that blend seamlessly into Houston's prestigious neighborhoods. Their signature features include restrained, classical sandblasted limestone in an organic pink rose tone derived from stucco compositions of reddish river sand, sophisticated motor courts, entertaining salons thoughtfully separated from private living areas, dramatic black-and-white floors in oval entries, and perfectly framed views of oval pools complete with terrace canopies.
Published by Rizzoli, this latest book represents the firm's second major publication, following their first monograph "A Vision of Place" released by Texas A&M University Press in 2017. The new volume showcases an impressive variety of recent projects, each highlighting the firm's core principles of merging historic and modern design while carefully considering the unique circumstances of each project. Curtis credits his daughter Lucy McEachern Curtis as the book's author, praising her scholarship and writing ability.
"I think what's great about the book is that we always try to tell a story with our pictures and our drawings, but this story gets told with the words – and it's good scholarship, excellent writing with a wonderful sense of humor," Curtis explained. "She wasn't afraid of Russell and I. So she just sort of stood up there and did it."
Lucy Curtis guides readers through diverse projects including the piano nobile or "upside-down" River Oaks house built for a frequent entertainer, the complex restoration of the midcentury National Register of Historic Places-listed Homewood House, and the enchanting Good Thyme Farm for the same spectacular and creative client as Homewood House, featuring interiors by Miles Redd. As Redd writes in the book's foreword, "The thing about Bill and Russell which is so clearly evidenced by this book, is that they are up for anything as long as it is done with style."
The firm's expertise lies in their masterful application of classical proportions and techniques to a variety of architectural vernaculars, mirroring the approach of the original River Oaks architects in the 1920s and 1930s. They excel at mastering scale and circumstance, ensuring that once a new Curtis & Windham home is completed, it immediately appears to belong naturally in its landscape. Architectural historian Mark Alan Hewitt writes in the introduction: "Their work represents the most consistently superb design I have seen in decades, rendered persuasively in a wide variety of styles and scales."
Throughout their distinguished career, Curtis & Windham Architects has received numerous prestigious accolades, including the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art Arthur Ross Award, consecutive Palladio Awards, and multiple John Staub Awards. These honors reflect their commitment to excellence and their significant contribution to contemporary classical architecture.
During the evening's festivities, Curtis and Windham delivered brief speeches, jovially thanking their clients for taking their hunting dogs and their architects along to vacation destinations, and gamely encouraging clients to embark on new projects to be featured in their next publication. The celebration atmosphere reflected the warm relationships the firm has cultivated with their clientele over more than three decades.
The book launch represents just the beginning of an extensive national tour, with planned stops in New York, Los Angeles, Memphis, New Orleans, and Palm Beach. Notable attendees at the River Oaks celebration included Cabrina Owsley, Amy Lee, Phoebe Tudor, Chesie Breen, Rebecca Rabinow, Renee Lewis, Sarah Lamb and David Larned, Ann Wolf, Ashley Holden, Kate and Steve Gibson, Lauren and Brock Hudson, Stephen Fox, Aliyya Stude, Lucia Benton, Todd Beckendorff, Danny Ostendorf, Olivia Austin, Ruben Mijares, Mark Ofield, Meredith and Jean-Marc Monrad, Bill and Mary Nell Browning, Carrie and Al Pepi, Carolyn and Chris Dorros, Sarah and John Hastings, and Marley Lott.
Upcoming events will provide additional opportunities for architecture enthusiasts to meet Curtis and Windham and acquire signed copies of their new book. The architects will sign books in Houston on Thursday, October 2 from 6 pm to 8 pm at St. Johns School, sponsored by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. They will be honored in Round Top on October 13 from 6 pm to 9 pm at The Halles during the PaperCity Designer Dinner, alongside Ray Booth and the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art Texas Chapter. Curtis and Booth will also sign books prior to the dinner from 3 pm to 5 pm at Red Antler Bungalows in Round Top, and both architects will speak and sign books at Texas Design Week Dallas on Monday, November 3.
