At home with architect Byron Romanowitz
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The angle of the roof slope is repeated throughout Byron Romanowitz’s home, down to the shape of the basebaords. PHOTOS BY WALT ROYCRAFT
In 1942 Byron Romanowitz’s father, an electrical engineer, took a position with the University of Kentucky and moved the family from Ludlow, Ky., to Lexington. Byron was 14. Nine years later he graduated from the University of Kentucky engineering school, and in 1953 he received his MFA from Princeton University School of Architecture. At UK one of his teachers was his future partner Ernst Johnson, who had been a classmate of Eero Saarinen at Yale. Johnson was a formative influence and a great mentor to Romanowitz.
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The public nature of the courtyard space in the family room is balanced by the intimacy of the adjacent space.
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Looking down into the family room, the internal courtyard seems to share space with the outdoors.
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A conversation area in the den, with easy access to the kitchen and wet bar.
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An ever-changing lake view brings the sky into the foreground. The house, built in 1975, nestles into a wooded glade on a hillside that eases down to the reservoir.
Byron’s career spanned 50 years, primarily as a partner in Johnson Romanowitz (now JRA) Architects, the firm he co-founded with the highly gifted Johnson in 1961. All aspects of his experience – design, social, political and business – are amusingly documented in his very readable “Issues & Images: Fifty Years as an Architect in Kentucky” (available at Lynn Imaging for $39.95). Byron’s interests and involvements outside architecture are daunting to consider, but a hint is provided by his other book, “Jazz in Lexington: A Personal View.” (Byron is a professional musician, playing jazz saxophone at local venues with Jazzberry Jam).
Byron’s legendary reputation for storytelling (particularly when a bit of scotch might be available) is well earned. I met with him and his partner, Doris Benson, at their house earlier this year, and it was like a jazz session, with Romanowitz felicitously riffing on any theme that arose.
Byron built the house for his family of five in 1975, and 38 years of wear hasn’t diminished the relevance of the place. It was a fine fit then, and it still feels tailored to the site. The house nestles into a wooded glade on a hillside that eases down to the reservoir. We arrive at the uphill side, where the house’s low profile is punctuated only by chimney and clerestory. The architecture is simple and unpretentious - forms that are more about interior spaces than about making a statement. Roofs are the defining feature of the exterior, beginning with the half-gable wedge over the garage. The same 3:12 pitch (11.25 degrees) is used for each roof, for the edge condition at window projections, and for multiple details, including interior trims, the chimney top and the house number placard.
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Material textures provide visual and visceral interest at the home’s entry and elsewhere.
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In the dining room, light and space are celebrated at the central volume of the home.
The impression that the house is mostly about the experience of the interior is borne out as one enters. The front door is a Forms + Surfaces product, with beautiful texture that begs touching. Upon entering the house one encounters a subtle sequence of spaces that shape the experience. Immediately inside is a low ceilinged zone, from which one moves in stages toward an open balcony where a double height space is a gratifying payoff. The balcony looks down on the main public room at the heart of the house. Like an enclosed courtyard, the great room seems to be the focus of the surrounding spaces. A generous bank of windows and glass doors opens toward the reservoir, delivering an inspiring view.
The interior has an informal, relaxed feel, with an elegantly quiet color palette. Throughout the house are fine pieces of art, most notably numerous works by John Tuska. Byron’s deceased wife, Millie, studied with Tuska and was responsible for building this collection. These days there is a clarity and quiet resolution to the interior aesthetic, which Byron attributes to Doris’ influence. One gets a sense that there is a clarity and resolution within Byron that might also be her work.
As with a piece of music there is a logic to the house plan, suggested by the courtyard-like great room, but perhaps best exemplified by service spaces that wrap the perimeter at the ground floor, simplifying any modifications to mechanical, electrical or plumbing items. But, as with music, there is also a certain magic. At the back of the house, one story below the entry, a peaceful terrace beckons. The terrace is like an extension of the great room, and yet it seems embedded in the woods and very much connected with the water below. It has the special energy of a place much used, much loved, and full of memories – an exterior recapitulation of the house itself.