BAYOU BREEZE - EXCEPTIONAL ESTATE IN RIVER OAKS 

Architectural style: Arts & Crafts

Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens established Country House style in Britain and America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Lutyens’ influence remains a force in architecturally important houses in America today, in particular the distinguished homes of premier architects Curtis &Windham. Samuel G. White, in the Rice Design Alliance quarterly journal Cite, observes that Curtis & Windham principals Bill Curtis and Russell Windham “see history and tradition as a guide that establishes rigorous, internal rules for design, not a  sourcebook for images to pluck from the spectrum and apply as fancy strikes…One cannot imagine a Curtis & Windham house in which the integrity of the design has been ruined by a self-indulgent program element, any more than one can imagine a Curtis & Windham house marred by a gratuitous or exaggerated design feature. The combination of seriousness, restraint and discipline in their work stands in juxtaposition to the postmodern excesses that give traditional architecture a bad name.”* Bayou Breeze, the Lutyens-inspired residence at 3688 Willowick is one of Curtis & Windham’s best houses and a well-kept River Oaks secret. Entirely secluded from the street, the estate’s gated drive traverses an English-style great park and terminates at the expansive motor court before the stately manor house. The home’s exterior is constructed of rough-faced ashlar with limestone details and sinker cypress, and shares a distinct provenance with the great houses of the American Country House era. Gardens reflect the influence of famed English gardener Gertrude Jekyll who teamed with Lutyens on more than 100 commissions in both Britain and America. Jekyll’s ornamental plantings are famous for riotous masses of color and a graceful transition into natural thicket. Here, gardens meticulously designed by landscape architect and urban designer Jim Hyatt enhance the park, motor courts, house and backyard bluffs and melt away into the surrounding natural woodland. Within this magnificent home, rooms inspired by English precedent and proportion and superbly appointed by New York interior designer Bunny Williams are sophisticated but inviting, livable, and very much a haven for family and pets. Williams creates rooms in which dogs are welcome on the furniture, where there is always a place to put your feet up and your drink down. It’s a lifestyle that should look and feel old-fashioned — yet manages not to. According to Williams, “A room should grow on you and become more interesting (the longer you) live in it.”

A wide central hall spans the depth of the house and is flanked by the living and dining rooms; a cross hall connects the central block to the informal and service wing and the master bedroom wing. Interior spaces are enhanced by glazed integral color plaster ceilings and walls; hewn Leuder’s Texas limestone floors and baseboards; antique hardwood floors reclaimed from North Carolina tobacco barns; massive sinker-cypress beam trusses; impressive fireplaces; and banks of tall casement windows which provide scenic backdrops of woodland and bayou. Extraordinarily delicate magnolia garland plaster reliefs enhance the intimate scale of the dining room; in dramatic contrast, the enormous living room offers a double-height timbered ceiling and massive trusses. The professionally-appointed kitchen features English black slate countertops and two islands, and encompasses a large informal dining area. As in the living room, the expansive family room features a double-height vaulted ceiling with structural timbers and trusses. A lounge with a walk-in wet bar is perfectly positioned between the formal and informal spaces, and a wine vault at basement-level is equipped with a dumb waiter to the butler’s pantry. Service areas include a return staircase, mud room and pet center, and a home office. A centrally-positioned elevator serves the home’s three main levels. The master retreat occupies the one-story east wing and provides a cozy, paneled study with bookcases and a fireplace, private terrace, spacious bedroom, a luxurious, mirrored octagonal dressing area, custom-designed closets with wardrobes, and a gym. Lavish dual master bathrooms feature private water closets, a walk-in shower, steam shower, whirlpool tub, opposing sink consoles, and framed mirrors. 

The five second-floor bedroom suites offer sitting/study areas, built-in desks and cabinets, custom-designed walk-in closets, and private bathrooms. A hallway lined with bookcases connects the bedrooms and a raised den/study area. Two bedrooms share a play loft with internal Juliet balconies. The third floor is dedicated to fun and features a theater room with a stage, theater draperies, projector mount, retractable screen, and speakers. There is also a separate craft/hobby room. The walled rose garden is designed for private access and enjoyment from the family room and home office. The enclosure offers paths of Cedar Bayou brick salvaged from a previous house on the site, an antique English fountain, clipped boxwood hedges, cutting beds of roses and Louisiana iris, and a charming folly. Bluestone terraces surround the classically-styled pool and spa, outdoor living and dining spaces with fireplace, and pool cabana. Constructed of sinker cypress, the cabana offers a professionally-appointed kitchen, a gathering area, and a full bathroom. Behind picturesque arched cypress-wood gates at lawn’s edge, flagstone paths meander down to the banks of the bayou. Auxiliary living quarters include a detached guest house with private entrance, living room, bedroom, coffee/juice bar, and bathroom. A two-bedroom apartment above the 1,000-plus square foot garage offers a living room, kitchen, and shared bathroom.