Austin House

Among the oak trees, this guest house was designed to highlight and blend in the beautiful Austin site.

The shell of the house was constructed in collaboration with Mell Laurence, AIA award Architecture firm in Austin, TX.

The glass wall rises to over 20 feet and is surrounded by an extended platform below that helps anchor the building and can double as a stage for private concerts and performances.

On the left side of the building, a the sleeping porch made of steel hold an outdoor bed that cradles the occupants like a nest. The right side serves as an entrance, which unfolds as a series of volumes including one of the home’s main gestures: the steel stair one passes beneath to reach the living area. Inside, the tone is set by those unburied European treasures.

In the master bedroom loft space, the spectacular vibrations of the antique, vintage European pieces give way to a more meditative study of the architectural elements. A bed on a track that slides from its interior home—between two book recesses with night tables that slide in and out of the wall—all the way out to the sleeping porch, whose screens and sheer curtains offer just enough protection from the elements on summer nights.

Behind the bed, a wood cabinet doors open to reveal a small sitting area and reading light for maximum cocooning. Unfinished white oak sheathes the whole interior to keep it from being too cold spatially.