To Grandfather's House We Go | Austin Home | Summer 2019

DESIGN INSPIRATION

A Backyard Pool That’s Not In A Backyard HOME PAYS HOMAGE

Not Your Ordinary Grandfather’s House Austin & The Hill Country

SUMMER 2019

SUMMER 2019

US $4.95

By

M AU R I E L B E L

To G r a n d f a t h e r ’s H o u s e We G o A LI F E LO N G W ITN E S S TO G R E AT D E S I G N BUILDS A HOME HER ARCHITECT G R A N D FATH E R WO U LD LOV E

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P h o t o g ra p h y by

PAU L F I N K E L | P I S TO N D E S I G N

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There’s no better testament to Mills’ lifelong appreciation of architecture than her stunning home.

The sunken living room (right), kitchen and dining spaces were designed for large family gatherings, fundraisers and public events; the bright, airy kitchen (opposite top) combines warm white oak millwork with crisp white solid surface accents; the bedrooms on the lower floor (top) are all illuminated by large windows.

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B Bonnie Mills grew up surrounded by architecture and good design. Her maternal grandfather, Alden B. Dow, was a Michigan-based architect who apprenticed under Frank Lloyd Wright and designed hundreds of projects over his 50-year career known for combining functionality with imagination and creativity.

There’s no better testament to Mills’ lifelong appreciation of architecture than her stunning home tucked into a sloping, leafy site perched above Mt. Bonnell where clean lines, sleek builtins and a seamless connection between the indoors and outdoors serve as subtle reminders of her grandfather’s architectural philosophies.

“Having a family member who was an architect and seeing the creative process through him made me appreciate that creativity in others,” says Mills, who wanted to remodel the West Austin home she moved into in 1997 when her now-grown son was just a toddler. “I had thought about it for a long time but had never met any architects I wanted to work with.”

When Mills was serving on the board of LifeWorks during the building process of the nonprofit’s branch in East Austin, she found the perfect architects for the job.

“They were so generous and helpful and personable,” Mills says of Juan Miró and Miguel Rivera, principals of Miró Rivera Architects, which designed LifeWorks’ award-winning building.

“Just because you are a nonprofit doesn’t mean you can’t have a beautiful space; affordable can be beautiful. And I think Miguel and Juan did just that.”

Mills initially planned to remodel her existing house, which lacked a cohesive

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The sunken living room (above) features a refurbished 1926 Steinway piano and Bertoia Bird chairs by Knoll; the foyer (left) blurs the line between interior and exterior as the landscape seems to flow into the house through thin steel windows; the third-floor office (right) offers panoramic views of the Hill Country and downtown Austin; the home is organized around a central, three-story staircase (opposite).

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Mills believes the space that surrounds her is important to her emotional wellbeing, creativity and ability to imagine and think beyond herself.

style, had a leaky roof and was very poorly insulated which made hot Texas summers miserable and expensive. But challenges made it clear that tearing down and starting over was necessary to achieve the design she wanted, according to Rivera, who vividly recalls the initial client meeting at Mills’ house.

“During the first meeting, she climbed onto the roof of her house,” Rivera says. “I thought it looked dangerous, but I followed her. From up there, there was this amazing view of downtown.”

Now Mills and her fiancé, Doug Eicher, enjoy that same birds-eye vista from their sunlight-filled, thirdfloor office space where green treetops give way to panoramic views of Austin’s downtown skyline.

“You feel this expansiveness from up here when you’re working,” says Mills, who believes the space that surrounds her is important to her emotional well-being, creativity and ability to imagine and think beyond herself.

A tour through the couple’s architecturally inspiring modern home reveals moments of creativity, exploration and discovery from the second you set foot on the property. Smooth concrete walls extend into the landscape, creating a series of outdoor spaces that draw visitors toward the home and through a 9-foot white oak and painted aluminum pivot door.

Floor-to-ceiling windows offer a glimpse of the white sculptural steel staircase—a three-story central structure that serves as the hinge point for the home with rooms and hallways unfolding from it on each floor.

From the glass-walled foyer, a bridge-like corridor flanked by bookshelves leads to the master suite enclosed on three sides to emphasize the sweeping view just beyond. The room features a white oak bed, nightstands and light shelf designed by the architects and flows into the tranquil bathroom where a white soaking tub rests before a window wall that opens up to a private garden courtyard wrapped by concrete walls and shaded by a canopy of oak trees.

There’s an underlying theme throughout the home that blurs the lines between inside and out: a central design concept from the beginning. Early on in the process, the architects visited the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio in Midland, Mich., to gain an understanding of the type of architecture that surrounded Mills during her childhood.

“A lot of the things he [Dow] did are the things we already believe ourselves—a connection to the outdoors, attention to details,” Rivera says. “Bonnie grew up understanding the value of architecture and good design which made everything easier. She was familiar with the importance of working with an architect and the importance of a design that connects with nature.”

Whether it’s the home’s connection between inside and outside or the nostalgic nods to elements found in her grandfather’s home, such as the built-in shelves in the master bedroom or the splash of blue tile in

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the downstairs bath, there is an artful beauty that lies in the details of the design.

“There are so many wonderful little details around this house,” Eicher says. “It’s part of the reason we don’t feel the need to put a lot of art in the walls. It almost feels like they created art here.”

White walls and white oak floors flow throughout the interior, and natural light and outdoor views are funneled through walls of thin steel windows. The exterior of the home is comprised of durable, low-maintenance materials—exposed concrete, metal and concrete panel cladding. A cutout in the roof penetrates sunlight into the home through a two-story courtyard that is visible from the stairs, reinforcing the indoor/outdoor connection with exterior landscaping that continues into the home’s lower level where two bedrooms, a bathroom and a media room create a less formal downstairs space partially built into the hillside.

One of the most versatile spaces in the house is on the main level where a refurbished 1926 Steinway piano from Mills’ paternal grandmother sits in a sunken living room that feels almost like a treehouse. It’s a cozy, restful space when it’s just the two of them, but it also accommodates large gatherings when the couple is hosting political fundraisers, musical concerts and nonprofit events thanks to thoughtful details like a drink rail, deep built-in benches that provide extra seating and acoustic wood ceiling panels that enhance the sound quality.

“The acoustics are amazing,” says Mills, who has had 90 people in her living room.

“It really is a great event space. And when you are here by yourself, it is calming and peaceful.”

Just above the sunken living room, a bright and airy kitchen balances warm white oak millwork with crisp white countertops and accents while an operable window ushers in sunlight. While the home is large, about 6,500 square feet, it doesn’t feel overwhelming.

There is a simplicity to the home, says Rivera. It’s really all about good spaces, good light and good design.

“Bonnie really set the tone for a home that was simple, beautiful and elegant,” he says.

Much like the architectural works that have surrounded her since childhood, Mills knows good design is timeless.

“This house is not going to look terrible in 20 years,” she says. “Buildings that are designed well age well. And they bring out creativity in the people who live in them and an expansiveness of thought they wouldn’t have otherwise.”

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