The designs of Houston architects Bill Curtis and Russell Windham of Curtis & Windham Architects run the spectrum from formal French façades to rustic mountain retreats worthy of a modern-day cattle baron.

Sometimes, however, it is those smaller, gem-like projects that truly seem to showcase an architect's skills. Such was the case when a Houston homeowner commissioned Curtis and Windham to rethink the pool house and the back lawn of her historic River Oaks residence.

The stately Southern Colonial home, designed in the 1930s by architect Cameron Fairchild, lacked the proper formal setting to complement the architecture.

In addition, in her former residence, the owner and her family had virtually lived outdoors on their loggia year-round. She wanted the new house and poolscape to be a reflection of this same lifestyle.

The two architects, working in tandem with landscape architect Jane Anderson Curtis (former associate curator of the gardens at Bayou Bend), devised a new site plan that transformed architecture, garden, and pool into a unified composition.

First, the design team replaced the circular back driveway that ate up the majority of the back lawn with an unobtrusive side driveway. Next, they took out the off-center pool and replaced it with a long axial pool centered like a jewel in the lush lawn. The vertical lines of the new pool give the illusion of greater length to the backyard.

A small sunbathing area paved with river rocks and the addition of a discreet hot tub built into the pool itself complete the layout. Arched water jets transform the pool into a fountain feature when custom-made brass nozzles are turned on.

The original garage located on the edge of the property was completely demolished. In its place, the two architects constructed a combination pool house/garage that is positioned at a right angle to the main house to form an L-shaped courtyard. With this new placement, the reoriented pool-house pavilion functions as a dramatic focal point at the end of the long pool axis.

The other end of the pool terminates in an equally picturesque point -- an elliptical garden, which Anderson Curtis filled with a number of native plantings such as star magnolias, lace-capped hydrangeas, and salvaged Texas roses.