Realty Check: Modern Home in Fountain Square

“I WANTED the home to feel like it had a soul,” says James Poisel of Poisel Design. “I think that is a benchmark of architecture that has value.” Poisel’s eponymous design firm focuses on landscape architecture and residential design, as well as objects and art. In 2016, he set out to create a home for his own young family.

The lot he chose was extra deep and featured the highest elevation on Hosbrook Street, which runs parallel to Virginia Avenue near Fountain Square. This stretch of Hosbrook is a pleasant mix of old and new construction, with several nearby homes renovated by HGTV’s Mina Starsiak and Karen Laine in recent years.

For Poisel, the goal was to merge historic inspirations with creative invention. “I love seeing how one generation of architects influences the next, how emulation mixed with innovation can result in something new and interesting,” he says.

He turned to masters like Walter Gropius, Mies Van Der Rohe, and Le Corbusier for inspiration, even visiting Gropius’ home—now a museum known as Gropius House—in Massachusetts for an immersive experience.

But Poisel didn’t confine himself to only one era. He also drew inspiration from The New York Five, a group of prominent modern architects: Peter Eisenman, Charles Gwathmey, John Hejduk, Richard Meier, and Indiana native Michael Graves. Two Graves-designed homes in Fort Wayne (Hanselmann House and Snyderman House) were particularly influential.

Poisel’s home was completed in 2017. With a jet-black, metal exterior that boasts a two-story glass front, its curb appeal is striking but softened just enough by native landscaping. Carefully selected plants, like Blonde Ambition blue grama grass, whose seed heads look like blonde eyebrows waving in the wind, offset the drama with a touch of whimsy.

Once inside, it’s clear that nothing in the interior was the result of a slapdash decision. Finishes are sleek and expertly paired to create an effortlessly cool aesthetic, like polished concrete floors against the warm, earthy texture of wood cabinets. Even the classic black and white palette holds deeper meaning. “White walls are defining interior partitions and activated spaces,” Poisel explains, “while black walls and ceilings are acting to de-materialize the structure and visually erase walls.”

While present on each floor, this effect is most powerful in the third-floor primary suite bedroom. The room’s showstopper is a large window bank that nearly stretches wall-to-wall and features panoramic views of downtown. At night, the twinkling skyline is nothing short of enchanting.

“This view helps to ground you, remind you of where you are within the city. You feel a part of the city, its professional sports venues light up when games are played, and the World’s Tallest Christmas Tree is a staple of your bedroom view from Thanksgiving to mid-January,” Poisel says.

1060 Hosbrook Street clocks in at 1,876 square feet, with three bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms. “There is a theme of revealing the structure of the home,” Poisel says. This can be seen along the stairs, where a partition highlights the two-by-four structure of the interior partition walls, or on the front of the house, where the pergola reveals the two-by-six framing.

In addition to architectural interest, there are unique interior details throughout. Just off the front door, an office captures every bit of sunshine streaming through the two-story wall of windows. It’s an ideal flex space and could easily serve as a cheerful play room, den, art studio, or plant sanctuary.

The living room is a bit of a chameleon. In the sunshine, it can transform into a bright and energetic space, or it can become cozy and cocooned at night thanks to a wood-burning fireplace that features an asymmetrical faceted marble surround.

A wall of built-ins opposite the fireplace holds history within its shelves. Poisel fabricated them from solid core doors salvaged from the Mies Van Der Rohe–designed Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago. For the irregular design of the shelves, he allowed nature to be the inspiration, specifically the colorful, eroded cliffs of Ghost Ranch in New Mexico but also the artwork of Georgia O’Keeffe. “This was to bring a warm and natural element to the living space,” he explains.

For those who love a lush garden but don’t possess a green thumb, all the hard work is already done. The property features native plants throughout, plus a front yard rain garden. Instead of a standard, square patch of grass out back, Poisel chose a more interesting route. “I prefer to use lawn as a feature, not as the default yard filler. Here, the lawn is an artificial elliptical form to contrast the natural, informal plantings beyond,” he says.