With a day full of exclusive visits to stunning local landscapes, Austin Home’s Great Outdoors tour welcomes visitors on May 11. From Pinterest-worthy pools and outdoor kitchens to thoughtful plantings and stylish urban density solutions, these homes will provide all the fodder you need for your next project.
Read on for a sneak peek at this year’s lineup.
Architect | Nick Deaver Architect
Landscape Design | Mark Word, Word + Carr Design Group
After buying a 1919 bungalow in Smoot Terrace Park, architect Nick Deaver and his wife Kathleen set out on a 14-year phased renovation with the goal of honoring the historic memory of the home. The front porch, for instance, had broken up to accommodate entry to a duplex. Deaver dug into an architectural investigation to restore it to its former glory, incorporating masonry columns made of a brick similar to what used in the era while providing updates necessary for code.
The historic district home highlights how to integrate private landscapes and views for multi-family living on an urban site. For the landscape Deaver enlisted longtime friend Mark Word, principal of Word + Carr Design Group. Narrow side gardens populated with weeping bamboo create privacy as you enter the property. Along the side of the home, tucked under an ipe and steel exterior staircase, angled ipe stretching nearly a story tall hide garbage bins and gardening supplies. In the back, a sunset porch features steel arbors and forms the ceiling for the downstairs apartment. Because it faces due west, Deaver devised a plan to use airplane parts made of aluminum with casters on louvers. Each piece spins independently, providing strategic custom shade on any given day and creating a dynamic sculpture in the wind.
Landscape Design | Open Envelope Studio
This project by Open Envelope Studio evolved over the course of several years, including adding a casita design to the backyard living spaces right as they were breaking ground with construction. The family already spent a lot of time outside with their existing pool and wanted more defined spaces. Open Envelope gave them a covered seating area with a fire feature, custom furniture for a bar and a grill, a lounger patio, lawn for play, a bocce court tucked along the fence line, and plantings to frame and soften the spaces.
The pergola is flanked on one side by a board-form concrete privacy wall to allow a TV to be hung. The gas fire feature acts as a coffee table when not in use, and provides a cozy space to gather with a bar and counter nearby. The existing covered porch needed an update and rework, so Open Envelope modernized the roof and hardscape, which now extends to the outdoor kitchen. String lights are hung to allow use at night and extend the roof line visually. It’s important to have a barefoot connection around pools, so the artificial turf was pulled up to the coping. Concrete pathways intersect the lawn area to lead users around to the lounger patio on the back side of the pool and to the casita. This paving pattern is created by inlaid steel, and the design language appears in all of the patio spaces.
Builder | Cedar & Oak
Landscape Design | Urban Landscape
The husband and wife builder/designer team at Cedar & Oak operates on the idea that architecture alone doesn’t necessarily create any sort of feeling, and interior design doesn’t work without cohesive architecture. For their own newly constructed Tudor home in South Austin, builder Holt Williamson created a Tudor-style home that looks like a traditional one-story from the curb but opens up into two stories in the back.
When it came to the yard, the design developed around the pool placement. A 25-foot-by-30-foot pool takes center stage, nestled in an ample ipe deck. A more traditional Lueder’s coping was forgone to emphasize simplicity of materials. The project also serves as a bit of a test subject for the owners, who selected zellige traditionally used indoors for the pool tiles. To the side, a turfed area complete with corn hole and a swing set provides space for the family of six to play.
Landscape Design | Cutters Landscaping
Pool Builder | Texas Tiny Pools
Located in the heart of downtown Austin, this project by Cutters Landscaping blends luxury and practically. A rectangular pool by Texas Tiny Pools incorporates a patented retractable composite deck, which smoothly opens to a secondary deck ideal for outdoor entertainment. A cantilevered steel shade structure dressed in cedar slat details cleverly conceals an existing city electrical panel. Terrazzo tiles sourced were from the artisans at Concrete Collaborative, while a circle privacy wall was brought to life by Tesselle breeze blocks.
Landscape Design | Cutters Landscaping
With the help of Cutters Landscaping, this backyard turned into an ultimate space for entertaining friends and family. The composite deck and pet-friendly artificial turf create a seamless transition from the sliding doors to the pool space. The outdoor kitchen is clad in Lueders limestone for a modern look that ties into the poolside patio and coping, and the hog panel pergola will be covered with Tangerine Beauty cross vine by the fall. Additional bells and whistles include a matching composite bench with interior storage and low voltage lighting throughout the backyard for nighttime lounging. In the front yard, Cutters created a new fence with a custom automated car gate and new plantings with accent lighting for curb appeal.
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