Western Tailgate

It had been student housing, and it looked like it. The first conversation with the owner was a straight one: this cannot be rented as it stands. Not a disagreement about taste, a statement about condition.

The list came first: floors, kitchen, bathrooms, walls. All of it done before we designed anything, because there was no point designing around a problem.

Then the house got a direction, and in North University there was really only one. Burnt orange where it belongs, western pieces throughout, decor that knows exactly which weekends this house exists for. Fifteen guests, which in this neighborhood usually means one group arriving together for one reason.

The backyard is the tailgate. A hot tub, a fire pit, a bocce court, and a place to watch a game outside. On a game day, that's where everyone is.