Mark Domiteaux is one of America’s most gifted modern architects. When I found out he’d designed this unique postmodern compound as his first home, I immediately rang him up to get the story.
“We discovered this quiet neighborhood in 1986, with funky, modern homes from the 1950s,” Domiteaux said. “There were no new homes, but there was an empty lot, and we found out the people across the street owned it.”
The neighbors had planned to build there but never got around to it, so Domiteaux and his wife purchased the .076-acre property and he began to design a family home. While researching art for a client in Santa Fe, he fell in love with the local architecture and it had a decided influence on the design of his property.
“I had plans for four buildings on the grounds and intended it to be a postmodern compound,” Domiteux said. “I’m fascinated by courtyard houses and trying to create exterior spaces that are part of the inside. I wanted to do a stucco house with a flat roof over one section, a gabled part over the middle, and anchor the front of the home with two large concrete pillars. All the bedrooms have windows on three sides to offer great ventilation. Of course, at the time, we had pink stucco and turquoise doors because it was 1986!”
Domiteaux also built a large garage and workshop area and designed plans for an architectural studio at the front of the property to eventually have a postmodern compound of four buildings.
Built to Update
The Domiteaux family lived here for a year and a half before selling to internationally renowned artist Nic Nicosia who lived here for more than 10 years and added a large studio to the property.
The present owners have been here 17 years. They had Domiteaux create a luxury apartment above the oversized three-car garage, expand the principal suite, and finish some of the things he’d initially planned for the property. All three buildings combined take this postmodern compound to 5,080 square feet.
“One of the most impressive things about the property is how Mark designed for the lot,” Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s Realtor Janelle Alcantara said. “With three-fourths of an acre, most people would approach that today by building a huge house. But this home is so perfectly scaled at the human level. The driveway is very long, and it feels like you’re entering the grounds of a botanical garden or a museum. The property has a sense of importance because the home is not immediately revealed. Then the whole story unfolds before you. The design was so forward-thinking. It has many private spaces woven together by the courtyards and the grounds. The house is situated on the lot so nearly every room opens to an outdoor space, which gives you a resort villa feel. The outdoors really brings the house together.”
Although the current owners are on site, they took Alcantara’s advice and hired the brilliant Lisa Stapp, owner of Staged by Stapp, to create a look for their home that would resonate with today’s buyers.
“Lisa transformed that house and energized the space to reflect the house’s personality,” Alcantara said. “I believe so much in staging. To me, it’s the best return on investment to get a home market-ready.”
Room to Grow
After living through a pandemic, private, flexible spaces and outdoor access are highly valued. This postmodern compound is a perfect example of how we now want our properties to perform. And if you want that home office on the compound, the original plans for the fourth building come with the house, and, of course, you can always call Domiteaux Garza.
A great rule to remember when buying a house is that if you can purchase an architect’s home and one that few people have lived in, don’t hesitate.
Alcantara has this unique and architecturally significant postmodern compound at 4303 Middleton Road listed for $2.7 million.
