The Beauregard House is a design/build gut renovation of a century-old home, located at the heart of San Antonio’s King William Historic District, that had fallen into disrepair: The previous owner converted the home into a 6 bedroom, 7 bath­room bed-and-breakfast and along the way overburdened structural, plumbing and electrical systems while compartmental­izing what had once been an open, light-filled space into a series of dark and confined bedrooms.

The renovation restored the open and welcoming character of the home, while transforming the bed and breakfast into a contemporary complement to the historic neighborhood. The design concept revolves around interconnected ideas of salvage (exposing previously hidden materials)/ revitalize (bringing new life to space)/ reinterpret (using history to inform contemporary use). These ideas allow the house to serve multiple functions as both home and office, embracing the peace and quiet beauty of a house built in 1900—a grand structure surrounded by a lush neighborhood—while offering a 21st-cen­tury space in an ever more active part of the city.

All finishes were redesigned, with the exception of the longleaf pine floors, with a goal to salvage as much existing material as possible. Existing longleaf pine is exposed and refinished throughout the house, accented by new white and grey washed yellow pine. Original brick and wood, covered during previous renovations, have been exposed in many areas while old framing members were reworked into furniture. Designed with sustainability in mind, exterior walls were insulated, and the new variable speed HVAC system features five zones to maximize energy efficiency. Windows were restored and reinforced with removable storm windows for improved ventilation control.

In plan, each primary zone of the house has its own character (contemporary/raw vs. rustic/comfortable). These zones have strong material definitions that offer a sense of stasis and focus. Simultaneously, the zones read as part of a connected whole because arrival and movement are always through clearly transitional spaces that play with opacity and transparency of reading one type of space against another. In section, the building celebrates the ritual of ascension, moving upward from the most solid materially “heavy” spaces to discover newer “lighter” spaces. Elements of the ground floor feature built-in solids or inset/framed infill, whereas elements of the upper floors float as planar surfaces, exposing systems. These spatial and material juxtapositions reveal—experientially— carefully crafted relationships between old and new.