Architecture, Design, and Other Cool Stuff
Situated in Barton Hills, a South Austin neighborhood characterized by mid-century homes, this 2,900 square foot residence is strategically located on the lot to take advantage of the site’s expansive canopy of trees. The client desired a home for entertaining that would reflect the architectural style of the neighborhood. They also wanted a strong connection between the interior and the exterior. My goal was to create a design that would artfully encompass all of my client’s needs. The result is a welcoming, modern home with clean lines. I was also able to exceed the client’s expectations by emphasizing a connection between the indoor and outdoor environment.
The "L" shaped floor plan helps to frame the spacious back yard. The plan was carefully arranged to allow the master bedroom, kitchen, and living room a connection with the outdoors. The kitchen is the heart of the home and is the center of daily living. The area is flanked by the entry, dining room, living room and allows direct access to the back yard. The open floor plan also allows fluid movement between the kitchen, living room and dining room. One of the most dramatic features of the home is the vaulted wood plank ceiling with exposed beams in the living and dining room.
The exterior of the home pays homage to the neighborhood’s mid-century roots. At the perimeter, large windows fill the spaces with natural light creating a further connection to the outdoors. Perched atop a perimeter of clerestory windows, the ceiling floats above the interior walls providing views of the sites abundant trees.
As with any of my projects, energy efficiency is always a goal. Natural lighting and foam insulation where utilized throughout to reduce energy usage. The windows are large with low e coatings and deep overhangs to limit solar gains. The natural materials used throughout give the home its warmth. At the exterior there is vertical wood siding and locally quarried limestone. On the interior the wood siding shows up again at the ceiling of the living room supported by large glue lam beams in a natural finish.
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Contactor: Blair & Carlisle Homes
Lanscape Design: Design: Pharis Design
Photography: Reagen Taylor Photography
The Willow street residences are two homes built on a single lot in the east Austin neighborhood of East Caesar Chavez. The neighborhood is characterized by its close proximity to downtown Austin, and the abundance of nearby coffee shops, bars and restaurants. As one of Austin’s most intriguing neighborhoods it is, at least for the moment, a mix of the young and old, the trendy and traditional with a love of the independent and unique. The design for these two homes is a reflection of unique mix.
The two homes take advantage of a provision of the cities land development code that allows you to build two residences on a single lot. The larger Unit A faces Willow Street while Unit B faces a paved alley that runs behind the home. These two faces create an interesting dichotomy for the lot. While Willow street is characterized by a more traditional tree lined street scape with older more traditional homes, the alley behind is characterized with a very unique and eclectic mix of smaller non-traditional dwellings. Walking through the alleys in this neighborhood you can find all sorts of hidden architectural gems that are a part of Austin’s fading spirt of “Weirdness”
While Unit A was designed to blend in with the rest of the historic and traditional homes along Willow I wanted the unit B to add to this tradition of hidden gems populating Austin’s alleys
Willow Street Unit B takes advantage of a provision in the city of Austin land development code that allows home owners to build two small residences on a single lot. The objective of this provision is to increase affordability and density near downtown Austin. The home is located in the east Austin neighborhood of East Caesar Chavez. A neighborhood characterized by its close proximity to downtown Austin, and the abundance of nearby coffee shops, bars and restaurants. As one of Austin’s most intriguing neighborhoods it is, at least for the moment, a mix of the young and old, the trendy and traditional with a love of the independent and unique. The design for the two homes on this lot are a reflection of this unique mix.
The larger Unit A faces Willow Street characterized by older more traditional homes. While unit A reflects the vernacular of the traditional homes along Willow Street Unit B reflects the unique and eclectic mix of smaller non-traditional dwellings along the alley behind. Walking through the alleys of this neighborhood you can find all sorts of unique architectural gems that are a part of Austin’s fading spirt of “Weirdness”.
The overall design of Willow Unit B is modern and dynamic in comparison to the more traditional Unit A. The two bedroom two bathroom home features an open, yet compact floor plan to meet the city’s stringent 850 square foot limit. To make the compact home feel larger several floor to ceiling windows that allow in light and views were added throughout. Since the two units are sharing the lot, outdoor space was a premium. To increase the amount of outdoor living area a covered patio was added to the second floor. The covered second floor deck provides a quiet and secluded space to relax. The large outdoor space increases the usable square footage of the house without adding significant cost.
Contractor: B side Properties
Photography: Twist Tours Photography
The Parker is a four bedroom three and a half bathroom single family residence in south Austin. When approached to design this home the clients stipulated three main goals. They wanted a home with a mid-century modern style, a guesthouse, and to save as many of the existing trees as possible.
To preserve the trees it was necessary to design the house around them. In the final design only one of the thirteen existing trees was removed. The floor plan works it's way around the trees creating recesses and voids in the floor plan. Making use of these spaces, an intimate courtyard was created off the master suite from one of the voids. Accessible only from the master bathroom the home's owners have the option of retreating to a private refuge below the canopy of a large Pecan tree.
Inspired by the mid-century homes of Joseph Eichler, visitors enter through an open air courtyard. The interior of the home is characterized by openness and energetic spatial connections. The generous use of glass creates a visual connection to the entry courtyard and the pool in the back yard. A double height space at the center of the home connects the reading nook and open office on the second floor to the living, dining, and kitchen spaces on the first making a very large space intimate and connected.
The lot was too narrow to extend a driveway to a guesthouse at the rear of the property. Instead, a fourth bedroom and bathroom were created. With it's own entrance off the entry courtyard this additional space can serve as a fourth bedroom, guest room, or private office.
Contractor: Blair & Carlisle Homes
Landscape Design: Pharis Design
Photography: Twist Tours
The Barton Hills residence is a remodel and an addition to a single family residence in Austin’s Barton Hills neighborhood. The home backs up the Barton Creek Greenbelt a 7.25 mile linear park in south Austin. The original design of the home is oriented towards the street and provides few views to the greenbelt to the back of the house. The objective of this design is to reorient the home to the greenbelt and create a connection between the interior and exterior of the home.
Contractor: Mezger Homes
The South Austin remodel is a kitchen and living room remodel project. The client wanted to remove existing walls in order to open up the living room. Two walls were removed and one wall was turned into a screen wall with built in shelves. The screen wall is a structural bearing wall located near the entry that divides the living room and foyer while allowing light and views between both spaces.
In the original design the existing laundry room was located in the garage. This space was enclosed to expand the conditioned square footage. To prevent the kitchen and laundry room from looking cluttered the washer, dryer and utility sink are hidden behind a pair of sliding doors.
Contractor: Matusek Contracting Service
Photography: Twist Tours
This project is a 2,900 square foot two story home on a corner lot in south Austin. The home was designed around three existing Live Oak trees. The home's "L" shaped floor plan creates a courtyard at the center of the lot with plenty of shade provided by the trees.
Contractor: Blair and Carlisle Homes
Landscape Architect: Pharis Design
Photography: Twist Tours
This 1,550 square foot addition and renovation was featured on HGTV's House Hunters Renovation. The owners wanted to renovate the existing kitchen and master bathroom as well as extend the living room by adding on to the front of the home and adding a screened in porch at the back of the home.
The existing kitchen was cramped and needed updating. After removing a small and inefficient pantry we were able to add significant counter space and open the kitchen to the living and dining room giving the owners the open floor plan they wanted.
Contractor: Blair & Carlisle Homes
Landscape Design: Pharis Design
Photography: Twist Tours
The Eastside Modern Redo is a single story 1,600 square foot residence in East Austin. The home was built on the existing concrete slab of a home that was destroyed by fire.
Contractor: Rejuve Group
Photography: Twist Tours
A new single-family residence in the Barton Hills neighborhood.
Contractor: Ranserve Inc.
Photography: Twist Tours
Contractor: Eddie Perdue
Photography: Twist Tours
