A House For Montikia
Community Partners: Hope Community Development Agency, Mississippi Department of Archives and History
This house, designed for Montikia and her two daughters, replaced the home that she lost in Hurricane Katrina. The home is located in Soria City, a small, close-knit historical African-American community in Gulfport, MS. Because of the property lies within a state-designated historical district, the home was designed in collaboration with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH). Some of the design parameters included meeting massing guidelines compatible with adjacent existing buildings, and using the vernacular style found in the facades of similar buildings in the neighborhood.
Montikia’s property is incredibly narrow. This, along with updated zoning requirements, meant that the width of the house could be no more than 19 feet wide. The living, dining, and kitchen were placed in the center of the house in order to create some separation between the master bedroom and the children’s bedrooms (located at the front of the house), per Montikia’s request. High clerestory windows along the long sides of the house allow for daylight to penetrate the interior of the long, narrow house, which sits close to neighbors. Nine and eleven foot ceiling heights provide better air circulation and help make this tight floor plan feel more spacious.
The front facades of buildings in this neighborhood are staggered from the street, due to diagonally oriented streets. In response to this, the front porch wraps along the side of the house to interact better visually with the street, while providing shade for the warmest side of the house.
