Israeli Architects Blend Modern and English Manor Styles in Unique Home Design

Architects Adi and Tamar Smit have designed a 750-square-meter, three-level home in Israel's Sharon region that successfully merges two vastly different aesthetic desires: a modern, minimalist concrete and glass villa for the husband and a warm, character-filled English manor for the wife. The resulting house, built on a one-dunam plot, presents a modern facade to a quiet street while opening up to agricultural views at the rear. Externally, the structure features exposed concrete and glass on the ground floor, with English bricks forming a perforated screen on the upper level. Internally, the design shifts dramatically to incorporate wood, fabrics, wallpapers, carpets, and eclectic furnishings, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere that contrasts with the exterior.

The home was designed for a career couple and their two teenage daughters, aiming to provide both shared family spaces and private retreats. The design navigates the plot's dual nature, offering privacy from the street and openness to the landscape. This duality is reflected in the interior, where a blend of materials and styles creates a transition from hardness to softness, modernity to classicism, and dramatic architecture to intimate domesticity. The layout is organized to foster intimacy, with private areas and entertainment spaces in the basement, the communal living areas on the ground floor, and bedrooms on the upper level, including separate wings for the parents and daughters.

The design process, led by architect Maya Hazan with consultation from Raanan Stern, took three to five years and involved close collaboration with the clients. The architects emphasized that the boundary between architecture and interior design is blurred, with exterior choices directly influencing interior aesthetics. They successfully bridged the couple's differing visions, described metaphorically as the husband being "foreign minister" and the wife "interior minister," by integrating materials and architectural elements rather than choosing a single style. Exposed concrete, often perceived as cold, was used with a fine wood texture to create warm, unique walls that complement rustic carpentry and diverse wallpapers, demonstrating the material's versatility.

Every element in the house, from custom-designed furniture and glass partitions to hardware and tiling, was meticulously planned or sourced from European flea markets to create a harmonious whole. The project's unique character stems from the detailed integration of diverse materials and textures, making each Smit project distinct. The supervision was handled by Ofer Borar, with structural engineering by Yigal Segev and landscape design by Itai Shalom.