Austin, Texas, only recently ceded its title as the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country. The boom carried it through more than a decade of building frenzy that is only now beginning to ease, but there is still considerable pressure to capture any building opportunity within the city’s desirable neighborhoods. Alterstudio is expert at plumbing the possibilities of these sites, most of which come with a flight of flaws.
“We are used to taking sow’s ears and turning them into silk purses,” says principal Kevin Alter. In the case of the City Park Residence, however, the assignment was to take silk and spin it into gold. The 4-acre lot lies at the top of a hill with panoramic views of the city. “These are the best views I’ve seen in Austin. You see the Pennybacker Bridge, the curve of the river, the city in the background, and the UT tower.”
Adding to the pressure was the history of the property, which had belonged to the client’s family for years. “Our client’s father had owned 140 acres here. He took a ladder around to find the best place to build a house and the family sold everything else off,” says Kevin. “That house is long gone, but our client kept these four acres. There’s only one neighbor nearby.”
The client and her husband had traveled the world but kept returning to Austin as a home base. Eventually, they decided it was time to settle here for good and reestablish roots with a new family home on this incomparable site. They interviewed nearly every architect in town, Kevin recalls, in their search for the best fit for their first Modern house.
“We had our Constant Springs House on the Austin Homes Tour and they came to that. We spoke with them. They came back over and over again, and then they brought their kids with them. They said, ‘we have a piece of property—can you come look at it.’”
“They’re retired now with one adult child in town and others out of town with kids. This house is the honeypot to bring everyone together,” Kevin explains. As such, multigenerational functionality was top of mind. Budget is always a consideration, too, and it was so here, but everyone—clients, architects, and builders—understood the importance of making careful choices for this high-value site.
Making an Entrance
For an architect, the potential for panoramic views permeates a project’s every design decision. The most skillful practitioners understand you can’t overwhelm every indoor and outdoor space with overstimulation—measured doses are far more effective. So Alterstudio pondered long and hard about how to unfold and withhold the views on this project—both for the occasional visitor and for its everyday occupants.
“When you pull up to the house, it looks like a low-slung modest thing—like a Midcentury thing,” Kevin explains. “But we set it up in a way that’s almost cinematic. Crossing the bridge, it pulls you through toward the view, but by the time you get to the house there isn’t a view anymore—you’ve turned left and are looking back at the courtyard. It tempts you, takes you to it, and then takes it away. It’s a constant set of expectations, then something special, and then surprise. When the view is finally introduced to you, it’s an oh-my-God moment.”
Once inside the house, the plan for the main spaces is one room deep with 180-degree views, says the architect. “You enter from the north. The view to the city is to the southeast and to the west are the hills.” Deep overhangs offer shade where needed for major indoor rooms and outdoor terraces. And there are smaller terraces that offer the relief of private, protected views.
The horseshoe-shaped main level puts everything the clients need on one floor, providing age-in-place functionality. The “U” of the horseshoe contains the principal entertaining spaces of living and dining, opening out to a vast terrace with outdoor dining spaces at each end. At one end of the flanking sides of the plan are the garage, kitchen, and informal dining. At the other end is the primary suite directed to the long views. “The best view is from the bed,” says Kevin. “The primary bath and closets are behind the bed, so there are no distractions.” Behind the suite are two offices facing the entry court that could be adapted into bedrooms for future requirements.
The Lowdown
Three guest suites occupy a lower level beneath the kitchen and casual dining area. One suite has commodious enough appointments to serve as a second primary. Directly underneath the main-floor living and dining areas is a covered outdoor patio and spa that open to a pool. “When the grandkids are there, they are in the pool and our clients are in the shade,” says Kevin.
On the other side of the covered outdoor room, a game room and den supplies entertainment for inclement weather and facilities for the pool. The main level can access the lower-level amenities by either interior or exterior stair on the sloped site, but both realms enjoy privacy when desired.
“There are the two pieces of the lower level that are anchored in the ground and connected above,” Kevin explains. “The landscape slides through the building, and you get the sense that, practically, you can be outside and not have to go through the house.”
Given the home’s location on a hillside, the structure required significant bolstering against strong winds. “There’s a big K-brace for the bridge to resist lateral forces. And we picked very heavy outdoor furniture,” Kevin notes. The house also cantilevers over the sensitive roots of 100-year-old trees using “very hefty steel beams.”
Despite the burly engineering behind the scenes, visible materials suggest a high level of finesse and refinement. The palette—mahogany wood-framed windows and screening, white oak floors and cabinetry, and iridescent Yorkshire limestone—is intentionally limited, creating a coordinated and soothing environment against the excitement and stimulation of the view. “We spend a lot of time trying to refine the subtle,” says Kevin.
The challenge with the finish materials was to also prepare the living area for frequent live concerts. “The ceiling is doing a whole lot of acoustic work,” he says. “And the bar can close up into a threaded timber wall for the band playing next to it.” Exterior landscaping takes outdoor concerts into consideration as well, and a solar array can double as a pergola.
“The landscape slides through the building, and you get the sense that, practically, you can be outside and not have to go through the house.”
—Kevin Alter
Optimized for the present but built with flexibility for the future, the family house on the hill lives up to a lifetime of expectations. The “honeypot” is now a sweet lure for returning generations, whether for a short stay or perhaps even longer. “The house really lives large,” Kevin observes. “I don’t covet all of my clients’ houses, but I would love to live here.”
The clients love it, too. Although very private people, in a gesture of appreciation they allowed the architects to put their heirloom house on the AIA Austin Homes Tour. As the real estate agents like to say, “Honey, stop the car.”
City Park Residence
Austin, Texas
Architect/Interior Design: Kevin Alter; Ernesto Cragnolino, FAIA; Tim Whitehill; Haifa Hammami; Daniel Shumaker, AIA; Matt Slusarek, AIA; Elizabeth Sydnor; Shelley McDavid, AIA project team, Alterstudio Architecture, Austin, Texas
Builder: Rauser Construction, Austin
Landscape Architect: Hocker, Dallas
Structural Engineer: M. Scott Williamson, Structure Works Consulting Engineers, Austin
Project Size: 7,660 square feet (conditioned)
Site Size: 4.2 acres
construction cost: Withheld
Photography: Casey Dunn
Key Products
Bath Ventilation: Panasonic
Cladding: Sapele mahogany, Yorkshire limestone
Cabinetry Hardware: Blum, Croft, Linnea, Hawa
Cooking Ventilation: Zephyr
Cooktop/Range: Wolf
Countertops: Dekton (kitchen)
Dishwasher: Cove
Fasteners: Simpson Strong-Tie
Faucets: California Faucets (kitchen), Cocoon (primary), Kohler
Firepit: EcoSmart
Fireplace: FireRock
Grill: Wolf
Home Control: Crestron
HVAC: Mitsubishi
Icemaker/Outdoor refrigerator: Sub-Zero
Insulation: Rockwool Comfortbatt and Comfortboard
Lighting: DMF
Paints and Stains: Rubio Monocoat, Sherwin-Williams
Passage Door Hardware: FSB
Photovoltaics: LG
Refrigerator: Sub-Zero
Roof, Truss Systems: TrussMate
Sinks: Julien (kitchen), custom (primary), Lacava (secondary), Native Trails (utility)
Steel fabrications: Drophouse Design
Thermal and Moisture Barriers: PolyGuard with Blue Barrier
Tile: Salvatori (primary bath)
Toilets: TOTO
Tubs: Dadoquartz, Duravit (kids’ baths)
Underlayment/Sheathing: Huber AdvanTech
Wall Ovens: Wolf
Washer/Dryer: LG
Window shading systems: Lutron
Window wall systems: Quantum Windows, Western Window Systems (primary shower)
