Here’s another great resource for Austinites:

Sanctuary is a new shop in the Westlake area that has a great mix of gifts, art, and accessories, many of which are made by local artists.  My friend Hanna opened the store about a month ago and has done an amazing job of getting the word out through fun open-house parties.  Sanctuary will host another party this Wednesday (8/6/08):

Summer Beauty Party at Sanctuary – August 6, 2008

Summer is at its peak! Bring your girlfriends and cool off at Sanctuary with refreshing cocktails and sweet cupcakes from Polkadots Cupcake Factory!

You can try on all the fabulous lip colors from Rae Cosmetics and beautiful new designs from Laura Elizabeth Jewelry.

DATE: Wednesday August 6th

TIME: 6-9 pm

LOCATION: 3663 Bee Caves Road 4d, Westlake Hills, Texas 78746

Here is their website with full details: Sanctuary Home.Bath.Garden – Events

Here is a map:

View Larger Map

This is the third post about my modern remodel in Austin, Texas. Click here for all ‘My Remodel’ posts.

As I covered in the Home Search post, we considered our remodeling options when we purchased our home.  We found a small home on a big-enough lot and began to plan our project.

Starting Point

The original home sits towards the front of a long, narrow city-size lot with homes on either side.  There are several medium sized trees on the property and one large Elm on the North property line, all of which shade the rear of the house (West) from the afternoon sun.  Here’s a top view of my rough model (North is up):

While the existing garage was moments away from collapse, the house was structurally sound.  We wanted to re-use as much of it as possible.  Here is the floorplan:

You can see that the home was originally a 3 bedroom 1 bath with a small living room and kitchen.  We think the rear addition was a closed-in back-porch that was completed in the 1970’s or 1980’s.  It wasn’t well built, and had several structural issues. 

Here are some photos of the original house:

Design Goals – Fashion and Function

With a long and narrow lot, an existing house, and several good sized trees, we knew our remodel/addition design would be challenging.  We did our best to keep our program simple and to stay open to our architect’s ideas.  Here is a list of our ‘functional’ criteria:

• Open and connected common areas (living, dining, kitchen …)
• Strong connection to the outdoors (lots of glass, outdoor living)
• Energy efficient design (minimize solar heat gain, maximize breeze …)
• Main floor master and guest bedrooms
• Secluded office (I like quiet, my wife likes to hide my mess, win-win)
• Option for separate studio and workshop

As for fashion, our tastes lean towards Modern and MCM architecture/design, however we also wanted our home to relate to the design elements of our neighborhood (mostly Craftsman and some Victorian).  An interesting challenge, so we left this up to our architect .  Lets see how we did before this post gets any longer.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s just about time for another Austin Cool Homes Tour.  Needless to say, I’m excited. 

Background

Every year the Texas Solar Energy Society and Austin Energy Green Building put on a tour of Green Homes in the Austin area.  This tour is a great way to promote green building and encourage other homeowners to consider options for making their homes more efficient.

Here are my thoughts about the 2007 Austin Cool House Tour.

2008 Austin Cool House Tour

The 2008 tour is this Sunday, June 22, from noon to 6 PM.  As usual you can buy your guidebooks (which are also your tickets) at Central Market for $15.  Here is a sneak peek of the 2008 Cool House Tour guidebook (PDF).

Full details here: Austin Cool House Tour 2008 Website

Here is a map of the 18 houses, a lot for 6 hours (locations are approximate):

I’d recommend carpooling.  It’s greener, it’s fun to talk about the homes with friends as you drive around, and of course there’s the dreaded cost of fuel.

See you on Sunday!

Developments related to my own modern remodel have cut down on my posting lately. More information to follow, but for now – a nice helping of Speedlinks:

Austin News:

• We all know Austin is a great city, but a little reminder now and then never hurts. Here are a few of recent Austin Business Journal stories with further evidence:
  • Austin economy spanks the competition
  • Austin companies top EPA’s list for using renewable power
  • Austin tops for filmmaking
• Since the Austin Cool Homes Tour I have been trying to figure out a way to use LED bulbs in my home. Perhaps more partnerships like the one discussed in this article can help bring the price down to a reasonable level – Austin Business Journal: Austin increasing use of LED bulbs
• For a nice summary of 2006 to 2007 price changes in Austin real estate check out this Infographic on Statesman.com: Statesman: Interactive Map of Travis County Housing Price Changes

Statesman Condo Propaganda?

Did anyone else notice all of the pro-condo stories in the Statesman this weekend? I don’t disagree with many of the points made, however it was strange to see such a concentration of coverage. I suppose these stories can only help Mayor Wynn’s goal of 25,000 downtown residents by 2015…

• Urban Urges
• Condo Pioneer calculates a decent return on Nokonah investment
• Couple’s urban experiment at Milago freed them from 1-acre lot
• East Austin loft has views of business and something extra
• Couple saved on gas by moving to East Austin condo
• Green design, garages made Bel Air the right address

Other News:

• Check out this link for a mashup of two of my favorite things – Solar Power and Google maps. Perhaps Austin Energy can put together a dataset like this? Google Maps Mania: Google Mapping California’s solar power history
• Here’s an interesting architecture competition – Redesign the Whitehouse: White House Redux
• Green music? Sure, why not. Jack Johnson walks the walk: Electronic House: Solar Powered Songs
• I always check Lifehacker first when looking for software or productivity tips. Here is a nice summary of their best pics for 2007 – Lifehacker’s 2007 Guide to Free Software and Webapps
• As about 40% of the readers of this blog use a Mac, here is another useful tip from Lifehacker – Lifehacker: Remove Stains from a MacBook with Toothpaste. Unfortunately Google Analytics does not report the percentage of website visitors with dirty hands .

Have a great week. Don’t forget your Valentine!

It’s been awhile so here’s another long list of links. Happy reading!

Featured Listing

If you haven’t yet done so, please checkout my new listing at 1101 Canyon Edge. It’s an amazing home designed by Tom Hurt, featured on the 2006 AIA Homes Tour.

Austin News

• There has been a decent amount of coverage about a new Downtown Austin plan based on input from ROMA Design Group and HR&A Advisors (consultants). News8Austin has a high level overview of a recent public discussion – News 8 Austin: Downtown plan sets goals for the future. For all of the details check out City of Austin: Downtown Redevelopment
• In other development news, Villa Muse developers want to avoid City of Austin jurisdiction – Statesman: Proposed studio complex’s developers want to build outside Austin’s controls
• I recently covered Austin’s Greenest Home For Sale. Unfortunately Austin’s Greenest Home hasn’t sold. Statesman: Solar house draws interest but no bids yet
• In McMansion news, the City Council decided that further restrictions on East Austin lots was not the answer. Statesman: Austin council rejects more home limits
• A national study found Austin had more job openings advertised than most other large metro areas. Austin Business Journal: Need a job? Austin’s got plenty, report says
• Austin regularly receives national recognition for job growth (see above), green building, farmers markets, etc. Here’s a new one – Esquire Magazine rated The Mohawk as the best bar in America. Pretty cool!Esquire: Best Bars

Green News

• In green power news, Austin Energy has more ‘Greenchoice’ capacity available – Austinist: Austin Energy’s GreenChoice Program – It’s Back!
• Further wind power capacity will be coming to Texas thanks to GE – Statesman: GE to invest in $350 million Texas wind farm
• In Nevada, the largest solar array in North America has just started generating electricity – MetaEfficient: North America’s Largest Solar-Electric Plant Switched On
• It’s good news that many industries are working to make their products more energy and resource efficient. Electronic House covers how this trend was on display in the consumer electronics industry’s largest showcase – Electronic House: CES 2008 Goes Green
• Compact Flourescent bulbs are widely considered an easy step towards making our homes more efficient. Some detractors point out the higher mercury content as a critical flaw. Could CFL’s also cause migraines? Read for yourself – Switched: Energy-Saving Bulbs Causing Migraine Headaches
• Here’s an interesting article about how to invest in socially responsible (and fiscally sound) companies – Wisebread: Socially Responsible Investing Goes Green

Misc

• This may be the only time I mention the 2008 Presidential Election, so pay attention. Check out some of the candidates personal residences – Newsweek: The Candidates’ Homes
• A weak dollar can make US real estate prices a bargain for those overseas. Case in point – Overseas Property Mall: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Condo

Stay Warm!