Baldridge Architects: Roam Ranch is a 4,362 square-foot single-family home on a working ranch outside of Fredericksburg, Texas. It is a testament to rigorous modern design presented in a central Texas vernacular in its form, finishes, and spirit—a unique assembly of contemporary and traditional design. The clients had previously commissioned the firm for a stylistically modern Austin home. During the pandemic, the couple acknowledged that they were dissatisfied with city life and again commissioned the firm to design a new home on the ranch where they sustainably raise bison and turkeys under the name “Force of Nature.” Unlike their city house, this new home also needed to function for their business operations, including podcasts and educational events.
The clients were adamant that this new dwelling retain a true ranch feel, while accommodating certain modern flourishes and amenities. Above all, both wanted to retain the two buildings they had built on the property—a kitchen / dining structure and a detached single bedroom volume. The resulting design preserves a conceptual legibility. Bedrooms, carport, kitchen, offices, great room, and gym all reside as volumes under a single roof gesture. New corrugated polycarbonate roofing matching the preexisting roof to create a stunning entry / carport, while allowing light into the existing rooms. Together, these spaces become the focal point that is, itself, a distillation of a central Texas dog-trot.
The ingenuity of the plan was born of pragmatic constraints. At all times, the clients needed to live in the structures amidst the chaos and mess of construction…with a newborn, no less. The design needed to contemplate the finished structure, but also the necessary logistics to accommodate uninterrupted occupation. While those logistics played a role in the design, one cannot see that in the resulting structure—it is fully resolved and clean. This is especially true in the small moments; the way the raw stone hearth allows the floor to seamlessly slip beneath with a 1/4” reveal or the way the flitched wood and steel structure invisibly allows for additional support at the compound cantilevers.
