ILLUSTRATION by SERGE BLOCH

With reverence for the past and an eye toward the future, architect Don Ziebell conjures up buildings with “soul”

It was not until the mid-1970s, when Don Ziebell was two years into his studies at the University of Arizona in Tucson, that he had thoughts of changing his major from landscape architecture to architecture dealing with buildings.

But there were early signs that this award-winning architect was fascinated with structures.

“In many ways, my career started in the homes I grew up in on the East Coast,” Ziebell recalls. “When I was 7, my family moved into a log home in northern Virginia that was built in 1701 and was an inn on the carriage route from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia. It came complete with a storied history, including bullet holes in the log walls. I was quickly initiated—as inexpensive child labor—into the pleasures of tearing down horsehair and lattice plaster walls during the never-ending renovations.”

Photography by Werner Segarra Working with the design team, the homeowners chose elements that contribute to the kitchen’s old-time look, such as a butcher-block-topped center island, countertops and sink of soapstone, an antique terra-cotta tile stove backsplash, and rustic antique beams. Such niceties add vintage character to the space, notes Don Ziebell. High-tech appliances and energy-efficiency used here do not detract from the mood of the space, he suggests, for even when a house is meant to look old, “it must have the conveniences a modern home should have.”

His childhood association with historic properties continued when his family relocated to Maryland and bought a mid-18th-century house that originally had been a one-room schoolhouse.
 
Surrounded by history, Ziebell came away with respect for old buildings, which later would serve him well. “Living in these homes, I came to understand that buildings could, and should, outlive their creators,” he comments. At Oz Architects Inc., the Scottsdale firm he founded in 1994, “I encourage clients to consider the idea of building a home that can last 200 years,” he says.

Integral to his design process is the concept that buildings must have a quality he describes as “soul.” His inclusion of elements such as antique fireplaces or centuries-old reclaimed wood flooring satisfies an emotional requirement, he says. “As humans, we’re part of a long history and need reference points that ground us.”

The Ziebell-designed Rural Mediterranean Arizona residence featured here garnered the architect a 2007 Gold Nugget Award from the building industry. Although recently built, its beamed ceilings, patinaed surfaces, and aged architectural elements are reminiscent of a time past. “People who come here say this is the warmest home they’ve ever been in,” the lady of the house remarks. “It doesn’t feel new. It feels like it has been here forever.”