Creating a Sense of Time, Place

Do you know authentic architecture when you see it?

Taber Anderson, president of The Lyle Anderson Co., a land acquisition and development company in Scottsdale, Ariz., attributes the trend toward authenticity to people's greater awareness of the world. "In the last decade, people have had a greater ability to travel and experience things around the world," he says. "They see how people lived hundreds of years ago and gain exposure to more things. They bring back ideas."

Anderson Homes & Design, Lyle Anderson's home building arm, annually closes 30 to 40 homes, all dedicated to design authenticity. Anderson says this requires a respect for and an understanding of the historical application of natural materials. Certain shapes were used in the past for a reason, he says, and it's important to understand those reasons.

At Anderson's Las Campanas community in Santa Fe, N.M., authentic exterior details include flat roofs, punched openings, and rounded edges of parapets and corners. Double-framing exterior walls creates 12-inch-thick walls.

Architect Lew Oliver, president of Lew Oliver Inc. in Roswell, Ga., defines authentic architecture somewhat differently. "It responds to its location," he says. "You don't need to transplant a Miami house from the 1920s to New York. The forms and styles must be indigenous to the area."

While he agrees that authentic design must stay true to natural materials, he thinks it also entails simple massing and good proportion. "It's about being very direct in your design," he says.

However, Oliver says materials do play a part. Real masonry, stone or stucco and durable woods can create design authenticity. While he dislikes manufactured stone be-cause it doesn't have the same texture as real stone, he will use concrete block.

Anderson has no problem with faux stone but also experiments with it, playing with shapes and arrangements and adding his own finish, similar to a mortar wash.

Colors also play a big part in authentic architecture. In Roswell, an At-lanta suburb, mill houses predate the Civil War. To re-create a mill house, Oliver says, leave the home unpainted or use a coat of lime mixed with Georgia red clay.

In the Southwest, Anderson uses reclaimed fireplace surrounds, steel, stone and marble purchased from architectural reclamation yards in Europe. "You can find 300- to 400-year-old terra cotta tiles with a wonderful patina that can't be achieved with new materials," he says.

Creating authentic homes involves other challenges. Oliver, the town architect for three Atlanta-area communities, says he works closely with builders to ensure that everyone is on the same page. He finds that builders like to build authentic architecture because the forms are simpler, though he does have to educate them on details such as cornices and window casements. "Sales are very strong for this sort of thing," he says.

Working with subcontractors untrained to install the authentic materials used on his homes challenges Anderson. Using authentic materials also adds time to the construction process. "It takes longer to execute properly," Anderson says. "The materials cost is high, so you want to do it right the first time. You don't want a lot of waste."

Anderson and Oliver both see authenticity as a trend that's here to stay, regardless of cost. While the reclaimed materials from Europe raise the price of Anderson's homes, Oliver's home prices generally increase only be-cause of buyer upgrades such as better cabinetry and granite countertops.

But, as Anderson says, authentic architecture isn't about what buyers will spend. "It's about appealing to a sense of time and space."