JACK JENKINS

Photos by Rick Daldwell Photography

Jack Pease Jenkins is owner and principal architect of Jenkins Architecture, Inc., in Columbus, GA. He is a registered architect, specializing in custom residential and light commercial design. The firm focuses on the client’s personal tastes to bring their desires to fruition whether it is traditional in-town homes, beach villas, mountain houses, or hunting retreats.

Jenkins Architecture has designed over 500 major homes and renovations throughout Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and North Carolina. Jack spoke to SVM about his architectural style, his design inspiration, and what design detail he likes to incorporate in his work.

What attracted you to architecture as a profession? I always wanted to be an architect. I drew houses as a little boy as young as first grade. It was truly a gift. I had trouble reading and even more trouble spelling, but I loved to draw and am lucky enough to draw for a living. The best day at the office is still one when I can draw all day.

How would you describe your architectural style? I enjoy working in many different styles of architecture from European manor houses to Tuscan villas. It's fun to come up with a look that fits the clients wants and desires, and portrays the image they are trying to capture with their dream home. I like to think that the house ends up looking like what the clients had in mind.

Where do you find design inspiration outside of architecture? I am inspired by the architecture of our past from classical structures built in Europe hundreds of years ago to what we have in Columbus from 80 years ago. I love great historic houses from Palladio’s Villa Rotunda in Italy to Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. There is inspiration in every great building whether it be modern or traditional.

How do you design a home today that will continue to be relevant in the years to come? That’s an interesting question. Having drawn houses for 30 years, I am now working on some of the same ones a second or third time. I have one beach house I drew literally 30 years ago that we're about to tear down and rebuild. Time is hard on structures, and clients' wants and needs change through the years. I try to draw buildings that are classically timeless and will look good 50 years from now. It is interesting to watch them change hands as new owners put a different spin on things.

Do you have a favorite finish or design detail that you like to incorporate in your work? I like to use quirky brick details. One of my signature brick details is to offset accent bricks in gables or on brick walls. You will find this on most of my buildings around the region. I love a big triple window with the sidelights smaller than the center window, flooding the house with light. In a house, light is everything.

Is there a specific style or design element that you are partial toward? I love English countryside homes. They are so old and have the feel that they have been lived in for years. There are a few magazines, The English Home and The English Garden, that are my favorites.

What are the greatest challenges creating a new design in an existing home? Probably the interior renovations of the 60’s and 70’s. Deconstructing dated interiors and trying to peel things back to the original architecture is much of what I do in interior renovations.

Every great architect had a mentor that they studied under, which one was yours? Ed Neal, here in Columbus, had the earliest and most profound effect on my career. He was kind and spent a lot of time teaching me how to draw details and designs in the classical style. He is a dear friend to this day, and at 93, we still travel around the state looking at great architecture of our past learning as we appreciate the preservation of our state. I also worked for a modernist architect, Paul Rudolph, right out of Auburn when I lived in New York City for a few years. That was a real adventure. When I returned to Columbus after moving around the southeast for 10 years, I worked with Bobby Hecht, and he helped formulate my sense of detailing and running a business. I will forever be grateful for the influence these gentlemen have had on my career.

I am very blessed to be practicing primarily residential architecture now and am overjoyed that Columbus has relied on me and has helped me grow. My Columbus clients have hired me to draw structures in many states throughout the southeast, and now I find myself working for the children of my clients and that is a real honor and a compliment. SVM