MONTANA HOUSE
The Montana house is located in a transitional neighborhood downtown. The quiet exterior of the house gives way to an interior courtyard.
At the heart of this house, the courtyard provides a private and lush environment for indoor-outdoor living and entertaining.
DESIGN
DESIGN
DESIGN
DESIGN
DESIGN
CASITA
1,100 SF Urban Accessory Dwelling • San Antonio TX • 2025
Cotton Estes Architect & Estes Twombly + Titrington Architects
Contractor: Long House Builders
Photographer: Dror Baldinger, FAIA
The Casita is a discreet accessory dwelling unit and painting studio tucked into a tight-knit neighborhood downtown. Sandwiched between two-story neighbors, the home comprises a series of inward-looking structures and courtyards along the central axis of the original double shot-gun style home.
Large barn doors provide secure, independent parking off the alley and allow for flexible privacy between inhabitants. Full-width sliding doors and pergolas line the courtyards, providing diffuse light and seamless outdoor connections. Linear skylights line the solid outer walls, providing high, focused light as a counterpoint to the landscape views.
Nearly invisible from the street, the Casita leverages the entire site to create a lush, adaptable, and comfortable home for a multi-generational family. Through careful consideration of the site and its inhabitants, the small home amounts to more than the sum of its parts.
The New York Times Jun. 22, 2026 "This Backyard A.D.U. Is Multigenerational by Design" by Tim McKeough
AIA New Enlgand Merit Award 2026
