Wail Majeed's house and Jennifer Johns" house are just more than 9 miles and 20 minutes apart, but for a period of time this year, they'll be in the same neighborhood.
Majeed's house is Villa Quantum, a modern-style home being built on a lot overlooking the golf course at 6805 St. Andrews Court in Mira Vista. Johns" house is the Ronald McDonald House just off 8th Avenue in Fort Worth, next to Cook Children's Medical Center.
They are connected through the Modern Tour in Mira Vista planned for later in the spring. Proceeds from the ticket sales go to support the Ronald McDonald House. But there are other benefits to being associated with a Fort Worth, Texas magazine home tour. Johns has been involved before and says raising visibility and awareness is the major benefit.
"People who live in Fort Worth may have heard of the Ronald McDonald House, but they don't really know what we do," Johns said. "They don't know what services we provide to families." It requires a large number of volunteers to staff a home tour, and some of those people transition into direct service with RMH.
Majeed's Villa Quantum is a 7,900-square-foot house being built amid the generally traditional homes in Mira Vista. It takes its name from a painted stone in the ground just outside the front entrance. This is the quantum point - and all the home's interior walls radiate out from it.
Ken Schaumberg, a highly experienced architect who is principal at Schaumberg Architects, says this is the first time he's ever seen this concept - radiating from a single point. He and Majeed are friends and former professional colleagues and worked on the design and production drawings together, he said.
Designing and building a home - melding all participants" ideas into a single plan - can be stressful, and that is why Majeed wanted Schaumberg involved. He had seen him in action when they worked on several Mira Vista homes years ago.
"I was intrigued by his liaison with clients to develop building programs to design their dream homes. Ken not only possesses natural design talent, but also has skills to deal with all sorts of personalities," Majeed said. "I felt he was the perfect person to develop a building program for my wife and me to co-design Villa Quantum, my family's future home."
Schaumberg says modern is his favorite design style. "Modern is very, very timeless," he said. "If you look at the stuff Albert Komatsu did in the "60s over in Shady Oaks, it's very good today. You look at some of the houses built beside it, and they are very dated."
Modern or traditional style is immaterial to Johns. Her interest is in design that furthers the mission of her passion. Ronald McDonald House of Fort Worth opened the doors on a major expansion last September, adding 20 family rooms and additional living space and laundry facilities. RMH can now serve 58 families.
The house provides shelter for the families of sick children who are undergoing treatment at Cook Children's and other Fort Worth hospitals. There's a nominal charge of $20 a night, but no one recommended by medical social workers at the hospitals is turned away if there is space. Families may pay on a sliding scale or even nothing at all.
"We try to provide all the comforts of home with lodging included. Our families find great support from one another as they are visiting with one another and becoming acquainted. You don't see that in a hotel," Johns said. "We like to take care of the families so that they can take care of their children."
About 7 percent of the annual budget comes from Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater North Texas. "They are a wonderful corporate partner," Johns said. Foundations, corporations and individual donations locally underwrite everything else.
For more information on the Ronald McDonald House, visit rmhfw.org. For more information on Villa Quantum, visit villaquantum.com. The site is still under construction, but you can view renderings by selecting "View Designs."
2014 Modern Home Tour Partners
Cantoni
Bezcon General Contractor
Morrison Supply Co.
Overhead Garage Door
Wail Majeed
Fort Worth, Texas Modern in Mira Vista Home Tour
6805 St. Andrews Court
Mira Vista
Opening in the spring
Benefitting the Ronald McDonald House
