Architect Arielle Schechter Receives 2017 “Best of Houzz” Honors

Architect Arielle Condoret Schechter, AIA, of Chapel Hill, NC, has won a “Best Of Houzz 2017” award in the Customer Service category for the second year in a row.

Over 40 million monthly users that comprise the Houzz community chose Schechter and the other winners from among more than one million active home building, remodeling, and design industry professionals.

Best Of Houzz honors are awarded annually in three categories: Design, Customer Service, and Photography. The Customer Service honor is based on several factors, including the number and quality of client reviews that a professional receives. (Click here to see Schechter’s reviews.) A “Best Of Houzz 2017” badge now appears on Schechter’s Houzz profile, along with the 2016 badge and a 2015 “Recommended on Houzz” honor.

According to Lisa Hausman, vice president of industry marketing, “These badges help homeowners identify popular and top-rated home professionals in every metro area. Each of these businesses was singled out for recognition by our community of homeowners and design enthusiasts for helping to turn their home improvement dreams into reality.”

Founder and principal of Arielle Condoret Schechter, AIA, Architect, the architect is perhaps best known for her modern, Net Zero Passive residential designs and her new Micropolis Houses® collection of modern, sustainable “tiny home” plans.

To see Schechter’s Houzz page, click here. For more information on her firm, visit www.acsarchitect.com.

About Houzz:

Houzz is the leading platform for home remodeling and design, online or from a mobile device connecting millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community empowered by technology, Houzz is the easiest way for people to find inspiration, get advice, buy products and hire the professionals they need to help turn their ideas into reality. Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, Houzz also has international offices in London, Berlin, Sydney, Moscow and Tokyo. Houzz and the Houzz logo are registered trademarks of Houzz Inc. worldwide. For more information, visit houzz.com.

 

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When A Mid-Century Modern House Isn’t Quite Modern Enough

Arielle Condoret Schechter amps up the style.

Cherry flush overlay cabinetry brings a streamlined look and element of warmth into the new kitchen. (Photos by Iman Woods)

January 2, 2017 (Chapel Hill, NC) – When Chapel Hill-based architect Arielle Condoret Schechter, AIA, was asked to renovate a mid-century modern house in Durham, she quickly realized that her task would be to interject some of the key features of mid-century modern design that this 1940s house was actually lacking. And, in doing so, she would create an appropriate setting for an icon of modern furniture design.

One of the primary elements of mid-century residential design is an innovative floor plan in which living spaces flow seamlessly and cohesively into each other. This house didn’t have that element, so Schechter opened up the interior to connect, rather than divide, the kitchen, dining, and living areas. A new window expands the view of the surrounding garden and forest in keeping with mid-century modern design’s emphasis on connectivity with the outdoors.

Many modern houses of that era also featured at least one special interior detail, such as an open-tread staircase, decorative concrete block screening, or an exposed brick wall, for example. This house needed a special detail “to amp up the style factor,” Schechter said. So she removed the faux-black stone around the fireplace in the living area and replaced it with floor-to-ceiling Heath Ceramics Dimensional tile. “Then we added down lighting to show off the sculptural form of the tile and to bring a sense of light and shadow to the new fireplace face,” Schechter said.

Foreground: George Nakashima bench. Around the fireplace: Heath Ceramics dimensional tiles.

Now the new open living/dining space, filled with natural light, is also a fitting backdrop for a spectacular piece of mid-century modern furniture: the homeowners’ original “Conoid Bench” by Japanese-American woodworker/architect, George Nakashima.

In the kitchen, Schechter corrected a combination of painted and wood cabinets by specifying cherry flush overlay cabinetry to provide a much-needed streamlined look: Flush overlay cabinet doors align on all four sides with the edges of the framework. The cherry wood adds an element of warmth in keeping with the mid-century modern era. The back splash is white Heath subway tile.

As the daughter of modernist architect Jon Condoret (1934-2010), Schechter is passionate about renovating mid-century houses.

“I understand them so well,” she said, “which is why I enjoy helping people renovate, remodel, and update their mid-century modern houses. I do it for the love of the design and to feel connected with the living, breathing ideas with which these houses still pulse. This renovation was done on a tight budget, but we were still able to inject style and function into this little house.”

For more information on Arielle Condoret Schechter, visit www.acsarchitect.com.