We visited Marfa over Memorial Day weekend staying at the Thunderbird Motel. The Thunderbird was recently renovated with the help of Bob Harris of Lake | Flato (who do exceptional work in my book, though this place was fairly straightforward in design).
You probably know the history of Marfa, so I’ll save you all that. If not, here is a wikipedia entry to get you going. If you want to get out of town for the weekend, I fully recommend making the trip (and taking the rural routes where possible).
Click here for a small photo tour of our stay in Marfa. This set is edited down to focus on the modern inspired buildings around town.
This is a lovely mid-century modern home on Balcones. Thanks to Robert Nash (of modernaustin.net), I was able to take an extensive photo set and talk with the original owner.
The architect was Pat Riley (sp?). Someone who I have never run across of before. This is a classic southern California modern influenced design. Much of the home is in original condition though there have been some updates over the years.
The owners also have some lovely Danish modern furniture.
Sadly, the original owners are moving. This house will be hitting the market next week. Given the extremely nice location (near the top of the hill, water views) and the area, I am guessing close to $1MM will be the listing price. Next door is an absolutely huge Spanish affair that demonstrates the pressure and direction of that area.
Hopefully, someone who loves this house for what it is will step up and save it from being torn down.
UPDATE: Hit the market today. $760k. Actually that seems like a pretty decent price given that area and the other homes. House is a bit bigger than I thought as well. Anyone want to give me, oh about $360k so I can get it to reseasonable mortgage payments? MLS Listing here. Not pictures yet but I gander the set I took will actually provide more detail.
Sorry no post this week so far. Work running me ragged (all great stuff though).
I went out to Agave last weekend. It had been over two years since my last visit. They had just started one or two homes at that time. Now it is in full swing. It seems that the Agave developers have gotten the project back on track after a very rough start (poor sub-contractors, delayed home delivery, etc). I talked with a few people living out there and they were extremely happy and all said that the developers have been a lot better the last 6 months or so.
Also talked with David, one of the realtors / sales agents. He walked me through the future development plans. There will be a second phase down the hill of homes by two of the Agave designers but at lower price coming on the market later this year. Also a set of "green" homes built under the Austin Energy program. Those homes will more "contemporary" in style (not exactly sure what that means, just what he said).
This place belongs to an artist and architect husband and wife team. However, I totally forget the name. I met them a month back and then went back today to take pictures.
I absolutely love this place, in particular what they do with polygal. The sand in the channels is an inspired idea that provides a lovely visual texture to the building. This place is particularly dangerous for me as it really inspires me to want to build.
Update: I did some more looking around and this place was designed (and owned) by Elizabeth Alford and her husband Michael Young.
She teaches graduate and undergraduate architecture design studios, a seminar on prefabrication of houses, and is a faculty advisor for the UTSOA Solar Decathlon team. Her research focuses on the integration of sustainable technology into design.
The first two houses are in East Austin. The place being built is a KRDB place over near the Oakwood Cemetery the next one is a little back yard studio / duplex down off 2nd.
The bulk of the pictures are Mount Baker off Balcones. There are some great solid mid-century homes in what is ultimately a great area of town. Due to the great location, views, and such this area is also increasing very high-end and I think many homes will going under the buzz saw. This picture set is really only a sample of the area.
If you are not familiar with the area, here is where it is:
View Larger Map
The last home is a Fehr and Granger or Emerson Fehr (or look a lot) a bit further north (Shadow Hills) that I snapped a picture as I was running an errand.
Please pardon the picture quality. They are not cropped and I really need to learn more about setting up pictures with all the light aspects at play.
Spent some time in Highland Hills today. Last time I was there I went to see a specific house and was pleased to find a whole slew of them up there.
Mostly of the homes are late mid-century modern homes. Yet more are influenced by the times including a bunch that were spec homes at the time.
Had the pleasure of meeting the owner of the home above and he was kind enough to let me walk around. He and his family have owned the home for 40+ years now and prior to that came from an AD Stenger home in Barton Hills.
Just up from him was the home below looks like a Fehr and Granger / Emerson Fehr home that is now being renovated.
Overall, Highland Hills has a lot to offer fans of the mid-century modern period. The homes are much bigger than Stengers generally, though they are priced higher as well. The area doesn’t have the hip-ness that the South Congress area may have, but it is very established with a long standing community. Personally, I think there is better value to be found than places like Tarrytown, but that is me.
Sorry about the lack of updates. Been quite busy on work travel.
Been meaning to put up a short AD Stenger profile. Thanks to Chuck, we had an opportunity to visit with his widow and got nice tidbits of info about the man. We are still researching the extent of his developments as well as him personally. More later.
Took some more pictures up in Barton Hills. Turns out that this is the first home Stenger built up there:
