Alexandria Rhodes is led by Rob and Ren Miller, a married design + build team rooted in Fort Worth, Texas.

Rob and Ren began their marriage on the Historic Southside of Fort Worth, later moving to the west side. Over the past decade, they have watched the city grow and, in many places, decline in the quality of its building. New housing has been built quickly and at scale, often with very little care. After purchasing their first home, they experienced this firsthand.

So the couple set to work creating a home that felt, if not perfect, like a place for refuge. Their favorite transformation has been their backyard. What began as a small patio and a patch of weedy grass has now become a place teeming with life — with two gardens for vegetables and native flowers, a fire pit, a tea patio, and its newest addition (still under construction): a garden shed complete with a miniature frog pond and bistro seating area. The backyard is now where they spend much of their time, and where their children love to be.

Through this process, Rob and Ren began to see more clearly what was missing — not just in their own home, but across the city. Lauren began writing a Substack to explore the root issues inherent in modern place-making, and Rob's interest in studying building design reignited after almost ten years of focusing elsewhere.

Now, they launch Alexandria Rhodes to help turn the tides of building back toward its proper goals: beauty, community, and dignity.

Ren Miller sets the vision of the studio’s work. She works closely with clients to understand their needs and ensures the project maintains continuity between vision and execution. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Entrepreneurial Management with a minor in International Economics. She brings a decade of experience in marketing, creative design, and writing. Her interests in philosophy, human health, and traditional practices inform a holistic understanding of the home as a place of restoration. A writer, she explores how our values shape the built environment on her Substack Worth Its Salt. This line of inquiry led to the founding of the studio.

The studio's philosophy has been shaped by:

• Architect and Philosopher Christopher Alexander, whose work on centers, wholeness, and living structure informs our understanding of both the purpose and process of building.
• Neuroscience Researcher and Literary Scholar Iain McGilchrist, whose writings on perception and hemispheric imbalance have shaped our understanding of how humans see and relate to the world.
• Oral Storyteller and Author Martin Shaw, whose mythic imagination reminds us that narrative and place are inseparable.

Ren writes more extensively about these themes — values, beauty, and the built environment — on her Substack Worth Its Salt.