On a rolling nine-acre site Family runs deep, even when distance and time zones separate people from one another. And kin can influence inconsequential details or big, bold choices that stay with us for years?including, of course, the homes in which we live.
This was true for Matt Ellis and Sheila Lee of Durham, North Carolina, who, after hearing that Lee?s sister and brother-in-law in Dallas, Texas, were working with local studio Smitharc Architects, became intrigued by the firm?s work.
?[When] we learned about their project, Matt and I had already started dreaming [of moving],? Lee explains. ?So [learning of the firm?s work] started a whole cascade of questions.?
Ellis and Lee were struck by her sister and brother-in-law?s collaboration with the firm, visiting their home throughout the building process and ultimately, when it was finished, spending time there with both of their families. They caught the bug and wanted to do the same.
In the living room, two Carson Sofas in Terrage Ecru Sunbrella Fabric by Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams sit opposite one another around a Tremont cocktail table by Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams. Two Nuevo Living Gretchen Chairs and a Calwell Bench by Charleston Forge round out the room?s seating options.

?We got to meet [firm co-founders] Jason [Erik Smith] and Signe [Smith] and connected with them personally,? Lee says. ?[We] started talking to them about whether or not it would be feasible to have them design som...