They told me, ‘Someday we are going to have you design our house,’” recalls LaRue of an early conversation he had with the couple, both real estate professionals and owners of Realty Austin. “And that Someday came several years later.”
While the couple expressed their desire for a home that afforded livable access to the outdoors and Lake Austin for their family, they gave few parameters to LaRue, instead granting him the architectural freedom to design the home he envisioned for the property.
“They didn’t know exactly what they wanted, but they knew they wanted something contemporary, a certain number of bedrooms and a pool,” recalls LaRue. “They really let us do our thing, which was fun. We were able to design a house the way we felt it should be on that lot.”
The 5,300-square-foot, four-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom home takes full advantage of the lake lifestyle offered by the waterfront lot it sits on –– a narrow strip of land with a large pecan tree that restricted footprint of the home. In order to protect the existing 60-inch-wide pecan tree rising from the property, the home was designed around it and now thoughtfully sits to draw guests in with a continuous view from the entry to the rear of the house where a serene outdoor living area meets the lake.
The project, executed in collaboration with builder Matt Shoberg of Shoberg Custom Homes, landscape architects John Hall and Rick Scheen and interior designer Kelle Contine of Kelle Contine Interior Design, marries modern and natural elements to exude a comfortable yet stylish lakeside vibe. In an effort to break up the mass of the home and look less boxy on a tight site, LaRue utilized a combination of Lueders Hill Country limestone at the ground level and zinc panels combined with a background material of smooth acrylic stucco on the second story. The cantilevered roof line, featuring a durable Ipe soffit, adds dimension and shape.
“I love the material palette on this home, which makes the architecture more meaningful,” says LaRue of the home’s composition. “This modern home feeds off of the warm materials and creates a contemporary yet very cozy house.”
The homeowner’s desire for easy and livable access to their natural surroundings is realized through the inviting outdoor living retreat and tranquil pool that blends seamlessly with the landscape and lake just beyond. An open floor plan and flexible outdoor/indoor spaces afford a comfortable day-to-day living environment for the family while making entertaining effortless when they have guests. For example, the living room features a large lift-and-slide door that opens to the outdoor living space, and an elevated pool creates a seamless transition from the indoors to the outdoors. Motorized screens were installed around the outdoor living area, which when lowered, create an even larger entertaining space.
The fluid downstairs area, although compact, doesn’t feel crowded thanks to thoughtful details throughout the house, ranging from the oversized pivot steel and glass front door from Dynamic Architectural Windows & Doors, which allows for see-through views straight to the water, to the wood wall paneling that runs down the hallway to conceal the powder and mechanical rooms. The master suite and a guest room are located downstairs while the children’s rooms, a media room and a bonus exercise room that cantilevers off of the garage comprise the upstairs. Inside, white oak plank flooring flows through the home, illuminated by numerous windows –– LaRue says several window manufacturers were used to achieve the desired look with beautiful results, such as the dark walnut finishes that read like furniture in the main living space. Hand-crafted features are seen throughout the house, spanning custom cabinets in the white, light-filled, contemporary kitchen and master bathroom; a custom-stained walnut paneled cabinet system that conceals hidden storage in the main living areas; and a modern floating tread white oak and steel staircase designed by Steel House MFG and millworker Joseph Zambarano.
Although the couple didn’t have their exact house in mind when they hired LaRue, they got everything they wanted: a modern yet comfortable home that blends naturally into its waterfront surroundings and allows them to enjoy the lake lifestyle whether inside or out.
“I think one of the neatest things about this house is that you can be sitting in the kitchen or in the family room and see the lake,” says LaRue. “They can watch their kids and their friends spill in and out. It just works for them.”
ARCHITECT LaRue Architects
512-347-1688 | www.larue-architects.com