Townhouse for Thomas Hope

This townhouse at Lafayette Square in Savannah, GA was designed with Thomas Hope, a notable 18th-19th century Dutch-English designer, traveller, and collector, as the proposed client. The project was an exercise in designing a building around the very specific tastes and lifestyle of an individual client, rather than the abstract and academic scope of most student projects. The program, character, and decoration of the house were informed by extensive study of Hope's dwellings, art collection, interior and furniture designs, and artistic taste. The exterior of the house is stately but not ostentatious, using Greek details to express Hope’s flamboyant taste while maintaining an overall simplicity in conversation with Savannah’s urban fabric.This resulted in a blend of Greek Revival and Regency style, informed by Southern urban architecture from the Colonial and Federal periods. A paramount theme of Hope’s life is his collection. His real townhouse and estate in England are museums as much as they are homes, and this inspired the program I created in answer to the question of what might result if Hope had built a house in the American South. “A theatrical house for a theatrical man” sums up the character of my proposed design. This house is a theater, where Thomas Hope’s collection and his hospitality are on display. The 1st and 2nd floors are oriented completely around these two purposes, with the more private living spaces kept to the 3rd floor - a division emphasized by the shift in stair placement. The progression of spaces that a guest might experience, from the entry to the main hall and the dining room, as well as the galleries upstairs, was the primary design factor for the lower floors. Service areas such as the kitchen and secondary stairs are discreetly connected to these public areas, allowing social functions to be smoothly run behind the scenes.