FROM LEFT: MARK JOHNSON, BRETT ZAMORE, DAWN FINLEY, ANDREW MCFARLAND, JIM EVANS AND BLAIR SATTERFIELD. PHOTO BY TZU-YU CHEN.
Based in Houston, Texas, Hometta is a collaborative of designers, architects, builders, writers and editors who have banded together to rethink and improve the way residential architecture is designed today. Founder Mark Johnson and partner Andrew McFarland joined forces with four core architects and designers, whose vision has guided Hometta's development. They, in turn, have helped recruit the 24 studios who have contributed home plans to Hometta's first stage of life. The editorial team consists of Jenny Staff Johnson and Ann Chou.
Mark Johnson, Founder and Publisher
Mark has experience running a real estate development and construction company specializing in small, green, single family residential homes. When not busy with the occasional construction projects and his Hometta endeavors, Mark has fun writing screenplays, which he seriously doubts will ever see the light of day.
Andrew McFarland, Founder
Andrew received a Master of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin in 1995. He and his wife, Gretchen, have a small design firm, d>mcf. His obsessions and addictions include: style, sailing, swimming with sharks, modern art, suburbia, California, Scotland, bagpipe recordings and the Grateful Dead.
James Evans, Founding Partner
Dawn Finley, Founding Partner
Blair Satterfield, Founding Partner
Brett Zamore, Founding Partner
Jenny Staff Johnson, Editor-in-Chief
Jenny's interest in housing developed via a background in public policy. After receiving her master's degree in Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs in Austin, Texas, she covered Austin City Hall for two years for The Austin Chronicle, where she learned the ins and outs of building codes, neighborhood planning strategies, and most importantly, the built environment's impact on the quality of life of a place. Jenny is also a freelance writer whose work has appeared in publications from Texas Music Magazine to Christianity Today.
Ann Chou, Managing Editor
Ann holds a Bachelor of Art in Architecture (2006) and a Bachelor of Architecture from Rice University (2008), where she helped found the undergraduate literary magazine The Rice Review with author Justin Cronin in 2005. Originally from Austin, she has lived in the Netherlands, New York, and Paris. Prior to Hometta, she worked at clothing and furniture retailers, a coffeehouse, and as an intern at Ken Levenson Architect (now Levenson McDavid Architects) in Brooklyn, New York, and Mitchell/Giurgola Architects in New York. She enjoys impersonating people, rearranging furniture and writing.
Tzu-Yu Chen, Design Developer
Tzu-Yu holds a Master of Architecture from Rice University (2009) and a Bachelor of Architecture from Tamkang University at Taipei (2006). During her time at Rice University she studied abroad in Paris for a semester. She is originally from Taipei, Taiwan, where she worked at Fei & Cheng Associates as a project designer before moving to Houston. During her time at Tamkang University she worked as an intern at J.C. Yang Architect and Associates and Yes.Architect and Associates. Tzu-Yu enjoys a variety of activities including travel, painting, photography, playing bass, and socializing.
Quyen Ma, Plan Review Manager
Quyen holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design from the University of Texas at Austin (2001) and a Master of Architecture from Rice University (2009). She has worked at a variety of firms including Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum; PageSoutherlandPage; and MC2 Architects. Her love for redlining stems from a three-and-a-half-year apprenticeship at KAMPFE/deStijl Architecture. Quyen enjoys posing for stock photos, laughing at Ann's impersonations, and crawfish.
Gregg Stephens, Consulting Architect
Gregg completed his thesis in Architecture at the University of Houston, where his project in Community Planning and Off-Campus Housing was adopted by the Board of Regents as Continuing Funded Project and built with additional student participation. After completing his training at small firms in the Houston area, he had a successful private practice in the Clear Lake area. His membership in the AIA included local, state and national appointments to committees on housing, criminal justice and legislation. He has also developed his skills as a sand castle builder, enjoys scuba diving and is the former Chairman of the Downtown Plaza Club Wine Committee.
