Urban Home Austin-San Antonio August/September 2014

CELEBRATING INSPIRATIONAL DESIGN AND PERSONAL STYLE

RENOVATIONS: MAKING IT YOUR OWN NEW AMERICAN FOOD AND DESIGN THE ELEPHANT STORY www.UrbanHomeMagazine.com

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FROM THE EDITORS Whether it’s a desired location, an attachment to a particular piece of property or having the interest to preserve that fabulous historic building you’ve discovered, renovating a home is a way to build the house you want from the house you have. Many homeowners can see the possibilities hidden within their beloved homes and choose renovation as a way of creating just the right spaces to fit their lifestyles.

What would have appeared to be an unlikely building in which to create his family home, Jonathan Card saw the possibilities in a 1938 cabinet shop turned automotive garage. His firm, Urbanist Design, specializes in repurposing buildings and promoting responsible urban development, so it was easy for him to re-imagine the open spaces and carve out living quarters fitting his growing family.

In Austin, one couple purchased their home at just the right time before prices skyrocketed, but ran out of space for their extensive library of books and other collectibles. They were unwilling to move from the neighborhood they loved, and with just a short walk to their favorite restaurant, who could blame them. They called on CG&S Design-Build to expand their square footage and create the most interesting assortment of shelving, niches and display areas to easily access and highlight their collections.

A young couple, fairly new to Austin, searched for the perfect location to settle down and raise their family. The house they found was not so perfect but with the expertise of architect Paul DeGroot and Urban Home Builders, it is now a charming bungalow with open spaces and a brightness that carries through to the new second floor. They were able to arrange the living areas in a way that suits their family’s needs.

While renovating a second home on the lake, homeowners called on Dawn Hearn Interior Design to oversee the whole house remodel.

However, they wanted to salvage as much furniture as possible. With several pieces of fine furniture and accessories more fitting to a Texas Tuscan aesthetic, Dawn was able to rearrange, recover and repurpose them in a manner that reflected the new East Coast beach house style.

If you’ve never heard of Elephant Polo, you’re not the only one, but Ed and Joey Story have made it their mission to protect these magnificent animals through this game and other conservation efforts. Proceeds benefit the Golden Triangle Elephant Foundation where abandoned elephants, once used for logging, are taken from the streets of Bangkok and returned to their natural habitat. And at their Comfort store, The Elephant Story, their partner Bobby Dent manages a collection of crafts made by artisans in the Golden Triangle area to support their communities and schools. It’s here that you’ll find the treasured Black Ivory Coffee — a true bucket list item — where beans are ‘processed’ by the elephants’ digestive systems. It’s a true culinary treat.

For more foodie fun, we feature four restaurants between San Antonio and Austin who have mastered the art of charcuterie. Their creative products transcend classic French, Spanish and Italian traditions, with beautiful boards composed of a variety of flavors and textures that harmoniously combine for the perfect bite.

At Bliss in San Antonio, Chef Mark Bliss and his wife, Lisa, have taken Southern comfort foods to a new level, while architect Candid Rogers did the same with their building. Once a Humble gas station built in 1929, Rogers renovated and expanded the space while maintaining the authenticity of the original structure. The food and the setting complement each other, creating the perfect dining experience. And having sampled the chef’s signature oysters, I can honestly say it’s pure bliss.

Trisha Doucette & Leslie Woods, editors

On The Cover: Architect Jonathan Card created a unique family home with a cool urban vibe from nearly a shell of a 1938 building near downtown San Antonio. Page 20

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2014 | VOL. 9 | NO. 4 Publisher Louis Doucette Editors Trisha Doucette and Leslie Woods Contributing Editors Jeff Bullard – Avenue B Development, LLC Bill Evans – ABOR Catrina Kendrick – Catrina’s Ranch Interiors Contributing Writers Jackie Benton, Beth Bond, Julie Catalano, Mauri Elbel, Brantley Hightower, Dana W. Todd, Leah Williams Strategic Media Placement Diane Purcell Advertising Sales Sandy Weatherford, Gerry Lair, Janis Maxymof Photography Tre Dunham, Ellie Falcao, Paul Finkel, Brantley Hightower, Tommy Kile, Knox Photographics, Robert Lema, Bruce Malone, Mark Menjivar, David Rangel, Marc Toppel Design and Production Tim Shaw – The Shaw Creative Printing and Direct Mail SmithPrint Phone 512.385.4663, Austin - 210.410.0014, San Antonio Fax 830.981.8887 Business Office 4714 Cambridge / Sugar Land, Texas 77479 Sales Office 10036 Saxet Drive / Boerne, Texas 78006 Email louisd@urbanhomemagazine.com Website www.urbanhomemagazine.com Urban Home Magazine Austin-San Antonio is published by Big City Magazines of Austin, LLC. Advertising rates available upon request. All rights reserved by copyright. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent from publisher. Every effort is made to assure accuracy of the information contained herein. However, the publisher cannot guarantee such accuracy. Advertising is subject to errors, omissions and or other changes without notice. Mention of any product or service does not constitute endorsement from Urban Home Magazine.

The information contained in this publication is deemed reliable from third party sources, but not guaranteed. Urban Home Magazine does not act as an agent for any of the advertisers in this publication. It is recommended that you choose a qualified remodeling, home furnishings or home improvement firm based on your own selection criteria. Urban Home Magazine, does not act as an agent for any of the realtors or builders in this publication. It is recommended that you choose a qualified realtor to assist you in your new home purchase.

Urban Home Magazine will not knowingly accept advertising for real estate that is a violation of the Fair Housing Act. All real estate advertising in Urban Home Magazine, is subject to the Fair Housing Act that states “We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the nation.

We encourage and support an affirmative advertising and marketing program in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin.”

© Copyright 2014 by Urban Home Magazine. All Rights Reserved.

August / September 2014

CONTENTS cover

20 Casa (De) Tarjetas Photography by Brantley Hightower and Marc Toppel

featured homes

28 A Collector’s Heaven Photography by Paul Finkel 34 Fit for a Family Photography by Ellie Falcao

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highlights

44 Rethinking Lighting 46 Ranch Kitchen Redo 56 Trunk Show

departments Design Trends 40 Transforming a Second Home Why This Space Works 48 Designer Spotlight: Laura Britt of Laura Britt Design

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Commercial Design 52 Bliss: A Happy Marriage of Food and Architecture New Masters 60 Destined to Design: Tom Watkins Outdoor Design 62 A Joyful Noise Food Design 66 The Art of Charcuterie

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Fabulous Finds 70 Destination: Lost Maples Essentials 51 New Products: Statement Pieces Contributing Editors 59 Bill Evans, ABOR 72 Savana Schroeder-Beckman Austin NARI & Rodney Hill, NARI San Antonio 72 Catrina Kendrick, Catrina’s Ranch Interiors

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74 Advertiser Index urbanhomemagazine.com

Elegant Ranch Designs at Affordable Prices

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CASA (DE)

TARJETAS

By BRANTLEY HIGHTOWER

|

Photography by BRANTLEY HIGHTOWER AND MARC TOPPEL

When architect Jonathan Card first saw the 1930s property in a mostly commercial district just outside downtown San Antonio, he recognized the possibilities that the space offered. After all, his firm, Urbanist Design, focuses on promoting responsible urban development in San Antonio and beyond. So it was with his ability to re-imagine and repurpose existing structures that Card created his family home — a “House of Cards.”

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BRANTLEY HIGHTOWER

Burkes Millwork was a cabinet shop built in 1938 along a stretch of the Old Spanish Trail MARC TOPPEL

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CIRCA 1938

ut first, a little history...

In 1915 construction began on what would become known as the “Old Spanish Trail.” Built to serve the growing automobile tourist trade, the roadway spanned the width of the country and linked the Atlantic and Pacific oceans a decade before Route 66 became the “main street” of America. Because of its southerly route, the cities and towns connected by the trail often times shared a common Spanish heritage — a fact that was reflected in many of the buildings that came to line the roadway.

Burkes Millwork was a cabinet shop built in 1938 along a stretch of the Old Spanish Trail that ran through San Antonio.

Like many of its neighboring buildings, it was given red tile roof flourishes and Spanish Baroque detailing despite its rather utilitarian function. Of particular note was the structure’s entry threshold whose shape referenced the profile of the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia located near the western terminus of the Old Spanish Trail in Oceanside, California.

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that ran through San Antonio.

Over the years the structure was used for a variety of purposes, including an automotive garage. In 2006 Jonathan Card found the structure in a somewhat dilapidated state but was able to see through its condition and realize the possibilities it possessed.

“It was all about the light,” Card said. “I was awed by the building’s central cupola and how it flooded the entire space with natural daylight.”

Card and his architecture office, Urbanist Design, have a special interest in adaptive reuse and urban infill projects. He wanted to “put his money where his mouth was” and had been looking for an existing building to transform into a unique urban residence for himself and his growing family. Although the existing structure did not initially have a particularly homey feel, Card saw great potential in the wide-open interior spaces spanned by robust roof trusses.

In its original state, the building consisted of a central, taller zone that was surrounded by lower-height bays. Although Card was able to reuse the building’s shell and existing heating and URBAN HOME AUSTIN – SAN ANTONIO

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air conditioning system, everything else needed to be rethought in order to turn the space into a livable home. Card’s redesign of the building focused on adapting this voluminous central space into an inviting Great Room. Located in the heart of the building, this space was illuminated by a cupola that floods the building’s interior with light. Since the site’s urban location made 22

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traditional windows problematic for privacy reasons, these high windows became a way for natural light to enter and animate what would be come the central living area of the home.

The dining area opens up to the south of this main space, as does the kitchen. Here Card started with inexpensive IKEA® cabinets, and by incorporating steel angle framing and urbanhomemagazine.com

BRANTLEY HIGHTOWER

BRANTLEY HIGHTOWER

concrete countertops, created a custom aesthetic that matched the overall feel of the space.

“The big idea of the project was to cram as much space as possible into the existing building,” Card recalled. “Every adaptive reuse project has some ‘hidden treasure’ that we try and exploit to make the project work.” urbanhomemagazine.com

BRANTLEY HIGHTOWER

In the case of this project, the high ceiling allowed Card to insert a second floor into the space as needed. Above the north end of the Great Room, Card created a series of more intimately scaled bedroom spaces. Closets are held toward the interior of the building allowing the bedrooms to take full advantage of exterior windows.

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MARC TOPPEL

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MARC TOPPEL

MARC TOPPEL

MARC TOPPEL

MARC TOPPEL

MARC TOPPEL

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BRANTLEY HIGHTOWER

The upstairs master bedroom overlooks the central Great Room and in so doing, borrows light from the high windows located there. To maximize the use of space, the master closet is located beneath the master bedroom along with an additional bedroom.

Accessible by a delicate spiral stair, an office loft is pushed into the cupola at the west end of the Great Room and enjoys a commanding view of the activities occurring below. Tucked underneath this is a small garage as well as a utility room and bathroom. An entry court is situated on the opposite side of the Great Room and acts as an informal sitting area that welcomes guests off the street.

Recycled materials were used whenever possible. The maple floors of the two-story bedroom zone were salvaged from a nearby building that had been damaged by a fire. Other exposed wood was reclaimed from trim and sheathing of local demolished structures. The industrial windows found throughout the project came from a demolished building in Austin, whereas Hill Country Overhead Door provided the custom industrial garage door. Alamo Hardwoods provided additional reclaimed wood, and Allen & Allen Company provided hardware.

The radical repurposing of a building always presents a unique set of challenges. Urbanist Design pushed the envelope of existing codes to create a design that maximized the potential of the structure while still meeting all building regulations. At the same time, occupying a space originally scaled for a different purpose presented several unique residential opportunities. For example, 26

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the size of the living room provided the perfect location for a swing to be hung from the rafters, transforming the space into a dynamic indoor playground for the owners’ young children.

This playful approach to design extends to the name of the house itself. As this is the home of the Card family, it was quite literally a “House of Cards.” Given its exterior style and location on the Old Spanish Trail, its name became a Spanish translation of that phrase — Casa [de] Tarjetas.

The compelling story and execution of this home caught the eye of HGTV producers who featured it in a ‘Bang for Your Buck’ episode. In preparation for this, the house was staged with photographic work provided by Marks Moore Photography in the Great Room and a Scott Martin piece in the dining room, along with Carri Jobe’s oil on canvas in the entryway.

The design of this one-of-a-kind home came about both as a result of the structure’s unique industrial beginnings as well as Card’s ability to craft a space to meet the specific needs of his family. While ultimately a unique house for a unique family, Casa [de] Tarjetas nonetheless acts as a fascinating case study in the potential of adaptive reuse. v ARCHITECT Urbanist Design 210.888.1172 | Urbanistdesign.com BUILDER Star General Contractors, Inc. 210.858.2420 urbanhomemagazine.com

E CLECTIC, H ANDCRAFTED AND O NE-OF-A- K IND

1208 B NW Military Hwy, San Antonio/Castle Hills, Texas

210.375.3138 | hopkinsblvdimports.com

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COLLECTOR’S

HEAVEN

By DANA W. TODD | Photography by PAUL FINKEL

As avid collectors of several genres of books, musical CDs, instruments, movie DVDs and figurines, Karl and Lisa Pallmeyer simply had run out of room to hold their finds in their 1962 ranch-style home.

With its modest square footage reminiscent of the way families lived 50 years ago, the couple had maximized every available nook and cranny for their thousands of collectible items. Many items were still in boxes, with no opportunity to move onto display shelves in the house and insufficient access for viewing.

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ost people would simply look for a bigger house and move out. But letting go of the things they love is not the modus operandi in the Pallmeyer household. Instead, the couple contacted CG&S Design-Build, a home renovation firm in Austin, to reconfigure the house they had owned since 1994 and enlarge its footprint.

Why did they decide to stay? Karl says home prices skyrocketed immediately after their home’s purchase in 1994,

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doubling the price tag of neighbors’ home purchases and making it unaffordable to move.

“We love Austin and we love our neighborhood, which is within walking distance of our favorite restaurant,” Karl Pallmeyer says. “We would have to move too far north or south of Austin to get a comparable home.”

“We don’t often see this level of investment in this type of neighborhood,” says CG&S Design-Build’s principal architect, URBAN HOME AUSTIN – SAN ANTONIO

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Stewart Davis. “These homeowners didn’t let the market sway them; they did exactly what they wanted to do.”

And what Karl Pallmeyer always wanted was a library in his home. Along with his wife, Lisa, a voracious reader, their book collection rivals the local library, providing the justification to satisfy this lifelong desire.

CG&S Design-Build drew up plans that almost tripled the house’s size, nearly reaching the city’s maximum legal limit for house renovation and construction projects for the existing lot size. Enlarging the ranch house from its original 1,048 square feet on one level to more than 2,800 square feet on two levels enabled the homeowners to stay in the house they loved while gaining the additional storage necessary to appropriately display their extensive collections.

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“The size of their collection is unique, and it is in pristine shape,” says Davis. “We were able to give the Pallmeyers access to their collection and at the same time use it as a design element.

There is storage and display along every wall and in every nook in the house’s public spaces.”

The design and construction team reworked the garage into usable heated and cooled space, adding a 775-square-foot media room where it had been located. Sliding three-leveldeep vertical shelves in floor-to-ceiling beech cabinetry store more DVDs and CDs than would typically be possible in this footprint. A rack built into an island bar holds a wine collection. Metal shelf hangers and granite on the bar provide polish and shine in the room.

The nearby library and central atrium hallway showcase urbanhomemagazine.com

floor-to-ceiling custom shelves, whose top shelves the couple access with classic rolling wooden library ladders. A home office provides more space with bookshelves surrounding the doorway.

Red oak floors in the library and other main floor rooms and replicated black-and-white checked tile floors in the atrium work together in this eclectically styled house. In fact, mixed materials throughout the home — wood, metal, glass and stone — reflect the homeowners’ distinct personal style and contribute to the “living with what they love” aesthetic.

“The house has a definite bookstore vibe,” Davis says. “It is a playful, eclectic collection.”

Every room contains some type of decorative storage and display built-ins with the exception of the dining room and guest bedroom. Even the stairwell furnishes an opportunity urbanhomemagazine.com

to display artwork and sculptures in wall niches and through a peek-a-boo divider wall.

Besides the storage the couple gained to display their collections, they multiplied the house’s usefulness for their lifestyle through the addition of a craft room for Lisa’s work and a music room with hanging storage for Karl’s guitar collection.

Even the “unglamorous” parts of the house received an overhaul. Renovators swapped in a tankless water heater for the old water heater model and added better insulation and a good mechanical system.

Outside, the CG&S Design-Build team ensured materials are durable, mixing metal, concrete, glass, wood and fiber cement siding to add the appeal fitting today’s standards. No longer just URBAN HOME AUSTIN – SAN ANTONIO

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a modest ranch house, the new materials upgrade the exterior into a more modern profile.

Both cypress and fiber cement siding mix effortlessly. A second floor walkout balcony mixes in metal elements. New aluminum windows and a new front door provide a shot of curb appeal.

To both upgrade the exterior and solve the problem of the sloping backyard, Davis designed a back deck with a 10-foot roof overhang cantilevered above it, supported with large steel beams and strong laminated veneer lumber (LVL). Concrete walls and metal railings help extend the deck over the backyard, where the team introduced retaining walls to terrace the sloped backyard and make it more usable and enjoyable.

The long roof overhangs help with utility bills and allow for 32

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a zero reveal of the windows, a modern detail that provides an open feeling. With zero reveal windows, the window meets the ceiling with no apparent supporting structure, making the ceilings appear continuous to the outside and allowing the roof to “float.” Modern details such as this one help the ranch house morph into a home that appreciates the past but is moving into today’s design standards.

“Others would have torn down the house and started over,” says Davis, “but this family likes older houses and considers itself a steward over this one.” v DESIGN-BUILD CG&S Design-Build 512.444.1580 | CGSDB.com urbanhomemagazine.com

FIT FOR A FAMILY

By MAURI ELBEL | Photography by ELLIE FALCAO

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Sometimes remodeling a house is the best way to get the home you’ve always wanted.

A walk through Ellie and Eric Falcao’s revamped home in Central Austin’s charming Rosedale neighborhood serves as a solid testament to this.

Like many looking for the perfect abode in Austin, a city that welcomes more than 100 new residents daily, the search was a bit of a journey but one that proved well worth the steps the young family took to arrive home. urbanhomemagazine.com

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hen the couple moved to Austin from Los Angeles in 2005, they were fresh out of college and purchased a builder home in South Austin located off of the traffic-riddled Manchaca Road. But after a few years and the arrival of their twins, the couple had a better grasp on where they wanted to raise their family in Austin.

“We wanted to try to become as central as possible,” says Eric Falcao. “We wanted a more urban lifestyle with a little more density and better schools.”

When it came time for the couple to search for homes, they scoured Central Austin. But they weren’t finding any homes within their price range that appealed to them –– many of the homes that were large enough had piecemeal additions that didn’t make sense for their family.

“People were working with what they had and adding on where they could, but the homes just didn’t appeal to us,” says Ellie Falcao. “After a few months of looking and not finding anything that was move-in ready, we thought we should remodel our own.”

In May 2012, they stumbled on an adorable 1946-built, 1,200-square-foot, two bedroom, two bathroom Rosedale cottage. They immediately met with a builder to verify that a remodel would be within their budget, and they put an offer on the home the next day.

“We felt this home had potential,” says Ellie Falcao. “It was really cute, and we liked the street, too. It wasn’t a main thoroughfare like the one we backed up to before. We wanted somewhere our kids could play outside and ride their bikes and this street was tree-lined and perfect for that.”

“This house had all the right stuff for what we were envisioning in our minds –– if we could pull it off,” adds Eric Falcao. “Out there, at least in brick and wood, we didn’t see anything we liked. So for us, it was easier to dream.”

The couple knew remodeling would be less expensive than tearing the house down and starting over –– plus, the home possessed appealing qualities like the recently added master bathroom featuring contemporary black and white tile and a spacious shower. They began working with architect Paul DeGroot and builder Gary Zygmont of Urban Home Builders to design and build their perfect home. Since time wasn’t of essence, they were able to lease the home in its current state for 18 months while they worked with DeGroot to finalize plans.

“We weren’t in a big rush –– at that time our countdown was kindergarten,” says Ellie Falcao whose twins just turned five in May. “So we had time to rent it out while we worked with an architect and builder.”

DeGroot presented a series of design schemes to the Falcao’s, each containing various layouts before they arrived at what you see today: a 2,500-square-foot, four-bedroom, three-bathroom, two-story home.

“Option A is never what we will end up building; it’s just a starting point to throw darts at,” says DeGroot. “It all came

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down to curb appeal and the floor plan, which always drives the boat. Option C maximized the upstairs space and had the most curb appeal while opening up the downstairs by relocating the stairs and moving the laundry room upstairs.”

Adding a second story created an ideal space for the twins.

With two bedrooms, a shared bathroom, laundry room and designated common area above the stairs designed to grow with them over the years, the children use the area now to play with toys, watch movies and work on art projects while it can eventually be transformed into a study or game room space.

“We wanted rooms that could evolve naturally,” says Ellie Falcao. “We didn’t want to force spaces to be something they are not.”

DeGroot removed the dividing wall between the former living room and kitchen, which created a communal flow downstairs while facilitating a connection to the back yard which the home lacked before.

“Before we had to walk through the outside laundry room or through the master bedroom to get to the back yard, which just didn’t make sense with young kids,” says Ellie Falcao of the design that now features wrap-around windows in the kitchen to provide views to the adjoining screened porch bathed in natural light and the back yard where the kids play.

The Falcao’s previous home contained a laundry room they used as a drop-off spot for backpacks and belongings as they entered and exited through the garage. Without a garage or downstairs laundry room in their new home, they decided to build a drop-zone near their front door ­— a functional nook lined with built-in shelves, cabinets and hooks that duals as everyday storage as well as a place to charge phones and tablets.

Personal touches like this one are now the Falcao’s favorite part of their remodeled home. Their new master bedroom is a soothing suite boasting high windows that offer views of the treetops outside. A skylight was incorporated at the top of the stairs to funnel natural light into the centrally-located stairwell.

Ellie Falcao was at the helm of interior design decisions, gravitating toward light and airy colors seen throughout the home’s white trim (White Dove by Benjamin Moore), gray walls (Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore) and beautifully veined Italian Carrara countertops in the kitchen.

The traditional detailing and craftsmanship seen on the trim and window frames mesh flawlessly with the home’s modern lines and contemporary flow –– one of DeGroot’s favorite aspects of the remodel. Even with the upstairs addition, the home remains in tune with its Rosedale neighbors.

“The house just looks so much better now than it used to,” says DeGroot. “It’s got a lot more curb appeal now. A home that you can totally transform and improve is the best kind of project to work on.”

Throughout the remodel, the Falcao’s chose to splurge on the things that were most important to them –– elements like the Weslock door knobs, Shaker-style two-panel solid wood doors URBAN HOME AUSTIN – SAN ANTONIO

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and handsome three-inch bed molding used as crown molding –– and cut back on the areas that weren’t.

“For example, we wanted custom cabinets but the appliances were actually an area where we saved money because we knew they could be replaced down the road,” says Eric Falcao.

Protecting, restoring and refinishing the original red oak floors would have been just as costly as installing new flooring so they opted to keep the traditional wood as a sub floor, covering the boards with new three-inch, custom-stained red oak. Most of the lighting seen throughout the house is from Lighting Inc., but Ellie Falcao selected a few statement pieces like West Elm’s Glass Orb Chandelier that floats above the dining table.

Overall, the couple was pleasantly surprised at how simple the remodeling process was –– construction began in August 2013 and they moved in March 2014.

“In hindsight, I feel really lucky,” says Eric Falcao. “This was 38

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our first [remodel] project ever, and I am really glad we did it.

You hear stories about remodels not going so well, and we just feel fortunate that it all seemed to go really seamlessly. But we had a good team –– a great builder and architect.”

But what the family is enjoying most about their new home is that they’ve become a part of its story.

“This home has a history,” says Ellie Falcao. “A man stopped by the other day and told us his parents lived here for 50 years.

His mom planted the ash tree that’s in our front yard. It’s really cool that our children will grow up here and we will all become a part of its history, too.” v ARCHITECT Paul DeGroot, Architect 512.345.2228 | Degrootarchitect.com BUILDER Urban Home Builders 512.916.8700 / Urbanhomebuilders.com urbanhomemagazine.com

AWARD-WINNING INTERIOR DESIGN custom homes • lofts spec homes • commercial Stephanie J. Villavicencio, ASID Texas Registered Interior Designer

512.443.3200 www.bellavillads.com

We’ve got great glass

www.VentanaMan.com 512-388-9400 1609 Chisholm Trail #100, Round Rock

DESIGN n TRENDS

TRANSFORMING A SECOND HOME

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By BETH BOND | Photography by TRE DUNHAM

mong the luxuries of having a vacation home is that some of the typical renovation concerns can go right out the lake-facing window.

In part, remodeling a primary residence is necessarily about achieving the home’s utmost practicality and durability for standing up to everyday use. But a getaway home serves a more relaxing purpose, and Dawn Hearn, principal at 40

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concrete. It’s a getaway home after all, so they turned their attention first toward the outdoor spaces, adding a cabana, a pool and a woodburning oven.

Finally, it came time to give the interior the attention it deserved. A dark living room, a somewhat outdated kitchen and a poorly-lit dining room each needed some work.

“We were ready for something lighter, much more refreshing and soothing, not dark,” said the homeowners. “We wanted softer grays, whites and blues and marble. We like the New England beachside look, but it has to fit where we are.”

Hearn was hired to help in conceiving and overseeing the remodel as well as decorating, which turned out to be largely an exercise in repurposing. “It’s rewarding to come in during a planning phase and work from the beginning until the last pieces of art went up,” she said.

Throughout the house, crown molding was added and updates were made to all of the hardware, cabinetry knobs and interior doors (now two-panel, not typical six-panel, plus levers in a fresh nickel finish), as well as all of the lighting. In fact, Hearn said one of the elements that she is most proud of in the transformation of this Lago Vista home is the effect of good lighting to make a space feel more breezy and airy.

Dawn Hearn Interior Design, finds the renovation process to be more relaxed as well.

“I like working with people on second homes,” the Austinbased interior designer said. “Sometimes they don’t take things as seriously so they’re a little more playful because they don’t have to see it every day.”

Such was the case with her clients, a husband and wife who are now enjoying their newly updated Lago Vista lake house just about every other week this summer.

The homeowners referred to the home as “Grandma’s pink house” when they bought it seven years ago because it was painted a pastel shade with black magnolia wallpaper lining the kitchen and white carpet throughout. Not being partial to dark renderings of large Southern flowers covering their walls, they did what they had to do, ripping down the wallpaper, painting some neutral colors, pulling up the carpet and staining the urbanhomemagazine.com

LIVING ROOM The problem spots in the living room centered on a dark, plain-looking fireplace and the question of how to lighten up a room furnished with a dark leather sofa and three club chairs.

The large, freestanding fireplace — that wasn’t so much eye-catching as in the way — is now a focal point and their favorite transformation in the house. Hearn describes the original version as sheet rock surrounded by dark green marble with a door made of brass and glass. It’s since been replaced with variegated rock in a warm but neutral color scheme, and the hearth was taken out. “When you open the front door you’re immediately drawn to that beautiful fireplace,” she said.

The solution for the heavy leather furniture? Rather than replace it, they kept it but broke up the set. The long living room is split by the fireplace, with the front area serving as a library or den and the back area more of a common living space.

So Hearn swapped the furniture between those spaces, pairing club chairs and an ottoman with a sectional with an oat-colored suede slipcover in the living room. “We’ve always thought this furniture was in the wrong room,” the homeowners said, but admit they didn’t quite know how to pull it off. “As soon as we saw it, it was like it always should have been that way.”

KITCHEN A good deal of renovation work was done in the kitchen, taking the overall look from warm and heavy to cool and light.

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The room was lit by what the homeowners called “four really dated 1980s ceiling lights.” Its primary surfaces were cabinetry of a light wood offset by countertops of dark gray granite. The kitchen had two islands — one with a built-in cooktop and another surrounded by barstools.

Much was changed but perhaps the most dramatic switch is the transformative effect of cool, pale marble. “We’d wanted to go with a white or soft neutral marble in the kitchen and bath,” they said. “We wanted clean-lined cabinetry and a charcoal gray island to pull through the veins of the marble, plus wood flooring.”

The large ceiling lights that took up space from overhead were replaced by recessed lamps and the second island was removed, making room to put a table in the casual dining area and allowing more of a flow between the open kitchen and living spaces.

The cabinets, now a clean white to complement the marble countertops and backsplash, were taken all the way to the ceiling to create not only more usable storage space but also a more completed look. There is also a closet pantry disguised as more cabinetry so as not to break up the wall of cabinets, and it’s much deeper than one might expect.

“When you look at the before pictures, the house was dark in spots,” Hearn said. “The white cabinets and creamy counters simplify and lighten things. We used the lighter colors from the sky and the water, and you’ll see these water tones throughout the tile, paint and rugs in turquoise and grays.”

DINING ROOM Take a look at the end result of the formal dining room, and it proves it’s possible to make significant updates without starting from scratch. The deep tones and textures of a long dining table with eight chairs had dominated the space. The seats of the chairs were upholstered with dark leather, and both sides of the 42

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chair backs sported a tapestry-style fabric in a Tuscan pattern defined by rich golds and browns. High-quality pieces, to be sure, but they no longer fit the look and feeling the homeowners wanted to conjure in this home.

Hearn suggested slipcovering the backs of the chairs with custom-made covers in a sand-colored ticking material. She took down the dark chocolate-colored silk drapes, added new artwork and mirrors and updated the lighting fixture from one with multiple shaded lights to a new candelabra-style piece dripping with elegant beading. She also removed a side table to free up space in the long, narrow room and pulled in a rug that had been in the living area. “We tried to get big changes out of those small adjustments,” Hearn said. “Because it’s a second home, they didn’t want to refurnish the entire home.”

BATHROOMS Cultured pink marble and light wood set the tone in the home’s two master bathrooms. A simple blue paint job and new hardware in one bathroom was all it took to make a big update.

Hearn called it “a dramatic transformation that anyone could do.” But the other bathroom got a giant overhaul in the form of floor-to-ceiling marble on the wall behind the shapely bathtub.

The homeowners note that it was one of their biggest splurges, saying simply, “This is the right answer.”

And all the work has paid off, delivering just the right getaway feeling.

“We keep saying to ourselves, ‘we love this place,’” said the homeowners. “This is beautiful and perfect for us. We can’t spend enough time there.” v DESIGNER Dawn Hearn Interior Design 512.930.0250 | Dawnhearn.com urbanhomemagazine.com

RETHINKING LIGHTING

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By MAURI ELBEL | Photography courtesy of LIGHTS FANTASTIC

eflect on the way technology has impacted our lifestyle in the past decade. Ten years ago, we relied on desktops before trading them in for portable laptops and tablets, which have become increasingly common in our homes and lives. Then it was common to spread out the newspaper in the morning and end the day with a good book in hand; now most of us read and receive news on our portable electronic devices.

As our culture changes, design adapts with it to suit our evolving lifestyle. While this is obvious in ever-changing color and pattern trends and the latest in furniture and decor styles, one crucial design element often remains somewhat of an afterthought in the process: lighting. Since lighting impacts each and every room of our home on a daily basis, industry experts say it shouldn’t be overlooked in the planning process.

“Our culture is changing due to the advances in technology,” says Angela Ryan, a LED lighting consultant for Lights Fantastic.

“Instead of reading a book or sitting down to write letters, we gravitate towards our Kindles, iPads and computers to email.

With such advances, the way we live and function in our homes is evolving, resulting in a major need to rethink our lighting.”

In other words, as technology changes and our routines evolve with those advancements, we need to bring our lighting up to 44

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speed to create a more compatible environment for our lifestyle.

“Lighting has largely been an afterthought in the building and designing process when it should be in the forefront,” says Ryan.

“Plan and consider the lighting in the space according to how the home will be utilized and lived in.”

Traditionally, homeowners have made decisions based on three types of interior lighting options: ambient, task and accent.

Ambient light fills illuminates the home via recessed can lighting and natural light streaming in from the windows; task lighting brightens work and reading spaces; and accent lighting provides punches of light on a specific area of focus such as artwork or photos. While those have been the typical lighting choices for homeowners to consider, Ryan says two other important levels have surfaced in recent years: safety and comfort lighting.

“Another level we are finding important is the safety aspect surrounding lighting,” says Ryan.

For example, when someone wakes up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, the typical routine involves fumbling around to turn on the main light which results in brightening an entire room thus shocking your system and breaking up your sleep routine. Safety lighting, in contrast, creates a point of low light to form a pathway allowing you to get to the restroom and back to the bedroom while keeping light dim urbanhomemagazine.com

enough as to not interrupt the night’s sleep, Ryan points out.

Another example of safety lighting advancement are Lutron Homeworks System of lighting controls, which incorporate security features like alarms or flashing lights which indicate a person inside the home is in need of help, she adds.

The second advancement in lighting homeowners need to consider is a comfort level. Advancements in comfort level lighting include LED light bulbs that change color to set a mood, ambiance or tone in a room –– and it all can be controlled with an app from your phone.

“A comfort level of lighting could be set easily with the simple use of a dimmer,” says Ryan. “Beyond that, there are more opportunities to use and apply the use of color in lighting applications. The soft glow of an amber or blue color can instantly change a person’s mood, creating an overall wellness effect.”

It is critical to consider the types of lighting you want to use such as the latest in LED sources as well as these other factors such as dimming, placement, safety and comfort before the building process begins.

“When building a new home or remodeling an existing home, thoughtful placement of the lighting is absolutely necessary,” says Ryan. “Not only can you customize the way you live, but urbanhomemagazine.com

you can also pick the points where light is really needed, rather than having fixtures placed arbitrarily throughout the space.”

New design trends include smaller, more minimal designs and aesthetically pleasing fixtures that offer the same effect and amount of light, Ryan says. She is noticing clients gravitating toward the more modern two- to three-inch fixtures and veering away from the traditional oversized recessed downlights, finding they can now get the same amount of light from something that is a third of the size.

When rethinking lighting in your new home, Ryan says the most important step is to plan for the type of lighting you want.

“Taking the time to select the lighting during the early stages of development will ensure proper wiring and a cohesive layout,” she says. “This will allow for less errors during installation; saving both time and money.”

Having a lighting dialogue with your designers and builders before the construction process begins can not only save on expenses down the road, but it can ensure your living environment is compatible with the way you actually live. v LIGHTS FANTASTIC 512.452.9511 | Lightsfantastic.com URBAN HOME AUSTIN – SAN ANTONIO

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RANCH KITCHEN REDO

By DANA W. TODD

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Sitting on a hill overlooking the Blanco River, a family’s old and faithful ranch house has served their needs since 1939.

he house is full of vintage materials well worn over time — thick stone walls, wooden ceilings with an earned patina, and barn-style doors. As one generation after another passed the house down to its children, the house has maintained its integrity with the exception of one room — the kitchen.

One resident “modernized” the kitchen in true 1970s style, complete with laminated walls, a laminate countertop, periodspecific cabinetry and vinyl floors. The appliance arrangement made the kitchen feel small and cramped, with the refrigerator jutting into the room and restricting traffic flow. Countertop placement in front of the windows blocked much of the natural 46

Photography by TOMMY KILE

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light that bounces off the Blanco River’s waters. An enclosed pantry and a closet housing a water heater ate up precious kitchen real estate.

The current homeowners decided to take the kitchen back to its historic roots so it would blend better with the remainder of the house. They also wanted to achieve better space utilization by rearranging elements since increasing the footprint was an impossibility. The homeowners chose CG&S Design-Build, which specializes in residential renovation, to conceive and implement a new plan for the kitchen conducive to cooking and feeding a family comfortably.

Using an established and respected firm like CG&S Designurbanhomemagazine.com

Build is important when home renovations are taking place where the family has put down roots and wants to preserve its legacy. As a 57-year-old family business, CG&S Design-Build provided a single point of contact for all architectural, design and construction needs the family had during the kitchen renovation, easing the entire process. The company’s portfolio is full of successful Austin area kitchen renovations, many of which have won prestigious national and regional design awards. For this family, CG&S conducted an architectural interview with the homeowners, designed the new kitchen concept and began construction.

First, the outdated cabinets were removed and the laminate on the walls was stripped away, exposing the original 18-inch thick stone walls. This tactic instantly lightened the space, allowing natural light to flow through previously blocked windows and providing a natural stone backsplash for a new cast iron sink.

CG&S Design-Build’s construction team then attached new backless cypress cabinets to the wall so their glass fronts could make full use of the stone walls behind them as a design element.

On to making the footprint feel and work larger, the designbuild team removed the enclosed pantry, opting to replace it with exposed pantry shelves perfect for a weekend home. A new exterior tankless water heater replaced the bulky water heater closet, opening up more floor space for food preparation.

Demolishing extra side counters added a little more room for movement, and touches of glass throughout the area, such as on the cabinet fronts and surrounding the range hood, keep the space visually open.

With the stone walls exposed throughout the kitchen, the team worked to blend the renovation project with the rest of the house. Adding Limoncello granite countertops added another urbanhomemagazine.com

level of textural, natural interest and easily integrated into the neutral color palette. To keep the look as seamless as possible, the stone wall was cut about 1¼ inches to allow the granite to slide underneath and eliminate gaps and extra caulk.

The granite also ties the outdoors with the inside design.

“The granite is wild, but perfect for a river location,” says interior designer Mark Evans of CG&S Design-Build.

“Limoncello mimics the green and mossy Blanco River.”

To keep eyes on the nature-inspired materials — stone walls, cypress cabinets, original wooden ceilings and walnut floors — Evans chose low profile appliances. A Jenn-Air® range hood, Miele® oven and Miele® induction cooktop are flush with surrounding furniture and finishes. Recessed lighting in dark bronze blends with the ceiling and along with undercounter lighting, spotlights the natural stone.

Details enhance the feel of antiquity. Evans reused the existing barn door that leads to the river off the back of the kitchen and added reproduction schoolhouse light fixtures for another dose of authenticity. Reclaimed cabinet pulls and exposed hinges are a necessary throwback and were salvaged from the old cabinets.

“The cabinets look like they’ve been there forever,” says Evans, “and blend with the existing 1930s wine cabinet.”

Today the kitchen appears to be the same one designed in 1939 along with the rest of the house’s rooms, only with the latest in appliance technology. Almost every initial design element in the kitchen was all wrong for the ranch house’s time period, but now it is oh so right. v CG&S DESIGN-BUILD 512.444.1580 | CGSDB.com URBAN HOME AUSTIN – SAN ANTONIO

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works WHY THIS

SPACE

By MAURI ELBEL | Photography courtesy of LAURA BRITT DESIGN

Designer Spotlight: Laura Britt of Laura Britt Design, assisted by project manager Jessica Love

When it comes to creating the perfect space for a client, Austin-based interior designer Laura Britt takes a collaborative approach to design. By integrating architectural and interior design solutions, her award-winning full-service studio, Laura Britt Design, creates transformative spaces that are both beautiful and functional. Britt says the process begins with the kernel of an idea that she and her team start with for the design concept. After they present a few initial concepts to their clients, the entire space begins to take shape and comes together to create a refined space with a cohesive vision. Case in point: this soft and soothing master bedroom suite Britt and her firm designed for her client’s new home in Austin. “For her, this was all about achieving a sophisticated, luxurious, elegant and feminine retreat,” says Britt. Read on to find out how the team created this serene retreat custom-tailored to suit their client’s lifestyle.

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With a blank canvas to work with –– a newly constructed home –– what were the initial design objectives?

LB: Our client was moving from another Austin home she had been in for many years into this home she was building from the ground up. This is her long term dream home she plans to be in forever so we wanted it to be elegant. And because she is a single woman, we were able to take a more feminine approach in the bedroom without having to worry about a masculine component or durability that is needed for children or pets. We really wanted to create a sophisticated, luxurious retreat with a spa-like feel. And we wanted to marry new pieces we found with the meaningful furnishings she already had.

What aesthetic were you going for and how did you create it?

LB: Above all, we strove to create elegance and tranquility.

Transitional is a really good term for how I would classify this space, and really, the rest of her home. We used a combination of clean lines, and we married some of the elements we designed with items she had collected through her extensive travels. The bed is custom-designed and -built. The fully-upholstered curved headboard with nailhead trim and fully-upholstered sides provide a soft, feminine design aesthetic as opposed to a bed with hard angles. There are a lot of interesting elements from her past that were important to her. She had curated a collection of sentimental items from her travels across the world so we worked to incorporate them and make this a very serene retreat.

For example, the lamps you see on opposite sides of the bed are vases she actually brought back from Pakistan many years ago urbanhomemagazine.com

and we had them rewired to function as lighting. She traveled so much that I think she wanted to feel like she was in the finest of fine hotels when she went home.

What elements helped create the luxurious feel experienced in this bedroom?

LB: It all started with the wall covering. It is a custom handembroidered silk wall covering. For obvious reasons, we would not use this for a family with children or one with active indoor pets. But this woman is a meticulous housekeeper and is very careful with her belongings. As a firm we are very focused on a client’s specific lifestyle when we design a space and strive to balance function with the aesthetic. But we were able to bring a lot of luxurious textiles in here, and this wall covering is a perfect example. We also created an inviting feel on the bed using silk for the bed linens which offers a luxurious sheen and soft satin feel to the touch.

The wall covering is a stunning focal point in this room. Please tell us more about it.

LB: The wall covering is actually made of silk and is an Asianinspired design featuring a cherry blossom tree. We worked with the wall covering company based in London called Fromental, which makes exquisite handmade wallpapers and fabrics, to design the scale and proportion of the pattern to make sure it was fully revealed in this space. There are contrasts between smooth and textural in the wall covering. You can see the light reflected in the threading of the flower buds compared to the silk background. So you get this beautiful moment of luminosity when the light hits the thread.

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You mentioned one of the objectives of this bedroom was to make it functional –– tell us how you designed this space with multiple uses in mind.

LB: This retreat serves as a sleeping space, a reading space and a dressing space. The bench at the foot of the bed is both functional and beautiful, with its antiqued brass finish and custom upholstered white leather tufted top. It provides additional seating space in the room, a place where she can sit down and get dressed, and it serves as a long surface to place her pillows or duvet. The petite chair was the perfect addition for a reading area in the corner of the room, providing a nice place to sit down with a book next to the window which gives great natural light.

Tell us about the color palette and textural elements you chose for this bedroom.

LB: This is a cool and serene palette, but the room has an overall sense of warmth and an inviting comfort due to the combination of the materials that were used. The color palette sets the relaxed spa feel and tone, from the warm gray-taupe color of the upholstered bed and draperies to the soft blue seen on the background of the wall covering and blue-and-gray color combinations on the silk bedding. Bright pops of white seen in the bench and pillows bring in that crisp, clean spa feel. But it’s the textural elements –– the 50

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Ushak wool fiber rug and the linen draperies that are set against the silk and the leather –– which highlight the contrasts between smooth and textural elements in the space.

When it comes to designing bedrooms, what is your philosophy?

LB: In the master suite, as a whole, we normally take a fairly soothing, calming approach to the design. We like to make it a retreat. Everyone is so busy and this is the place to go and unplug after your day. It really is a sacred sanctuary space because it is the most private area of your home. A master bedroom should be a reflection of the client and really fit with who they are. As a designer, I am looking to find the perfect fit between the client and the space, creating a room that lets my clients relax and unplug.

Why does this space work?

What we have achieved here is a very feminine space that conveys the nurturing side our client wanted. Having had a busy career that led her all over the world, this bedroom is now a space where she can truly retreat at the end of the day. v DESIGNER Laura Britt Design 512.458.8963 | Laurabrittdesign.com urbanhomemagazine.com

ESSENTIALS

NEW PRODUCTS

STATEMENT PIECES

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1. The 151 Hassock by Pearson features crewel fabric adorned with whimsical elephants with their trunks turned up for good luck. The layered details of blue chain stitches create a one-of-a-kind look. Crewels hand-stitched such as this one take up to six months to embroider 50 yards. Definitely a room-commanding look. Pearson®. Pearsonco.com.

2. Heather Scott Home & Design’s mother of pearl mirror features great curves and edges that will add instant style to your home. The mirror features superb attention to detail. Heather Scott Home & Design. 512.342.6899, Heatherscotthome.com.

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3. Rustic and distinctive, these wooden trays and boxes found in South East Asia feature a patina that only years of use and wear can provide. Hopkins Boulevard Import Furniture. 210.375.3138, Hopkinsblvdimports.com.

4. Washed wood finishing and hammered brass details lend the Babylon table lamp by Curry & Company unparalleled sophistication. On trend with the geometric and gold leaf details, the finishing and shape of this lamp possess a timeless quality. Dawn Hearn Interior Design.

512.930.0250, Dawnhearn.com.

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5. This fantastic and dramatic oil painting from the 1970s is framed in light wood to compliment the vibrant and clear colors. White Sconce. 512.201.8017, Whitesconce.com.

6. Stand in the sweet spot between old and new with Ergo cabinet hardware from Atlas Homewares. The suggestion of exposed fasteners makes this collection perfect for the Urban Farmhouse or Downtown loft. Push Pull Open Close. 512.694.7762, Pushpullopenclose.com.

7. The Bergère chair was the inspiration behind the new line for Philipp Selva Home. Architect Lorenzo Bellini melds elements of wood and leather together seamlessly resulting in a stunning chair with a decidedly modern attitude. Selva. Selva.com.

8. The Twist Light linear chandelier is part of an extensive collection of artisan-made lighting and decorative pieces featuring natural materials fashioned with contemporary flair. Big Grass. 210.735.7999, Biggrassliving.com.

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COMMERCIAL n DESIGN

Bliss:

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By MAURI ELBEL

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A happy marriage of food and architecture

Photography by MARK MENJIVAR

ood food deserves a setting equally as flavorful.

Dine at Bliss, Southtown San Antonio’s go-to spot for contemporary American cuisine, and you will find an upscale yet cozy ambiance that whets the appetite for the wow-worthy dishes served there –– think crispy oyster sliders served on buttermilk chive biscuits bathed in brown butter hollandaise and pan-roasted Texas red snapper paired with cilantro shrimp risotto.

Housed in what was once a 1929 Humble Gasoline Station, architect Candid Rogers thoughtfully executed an artful marriage of old and new to revamp and expand the existing space without overshadowing the historical elements that make it unique.

The chef-owned and -managed restaurant has become the creative canvas for Mark Bliss, renowned as one of the top gourmet chefs in the region. Whether you are an aspiring foodie or just keen on delicious food, you’ve probably either tasted or heard about Bliss’ culinary talents. The Northern California native embarked on his culinary career after moving to Texas in 1981 and has collected an impressive resume ever since –– from hotel and restaurant kitchens including Polo’s at the Fairmount to being hired as executive chef at Pour La France based out of 52

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Aspen. A decade later, he joined acclaimed chef Bruce Auden as chef de cuisine at Biga before opening Silo as executive chef and managing partner in the heart of San Antonio in 1997. In 2010, Bliss took a personal sabbatical to reunite with his family on the West Coast, spend time with his wife and children and ponder his next step.

“After opening the second Silo and Nosh, my wife sold her family motorcycle dealership, looked at me and asked: ‘do you want to take a break?’” retells Bliss. “So we went back in Truckee, California, where I grew up and took two years to think about what we wanted to do. We ate. Traveled. And we took a little breather.”

A bit of time off was all it took to inspire Bliss’ next venture: an independent restaurant concept in San Antonio.

“I wanted to do a restaurant but did not want any partners whatsoever, other than my wife,” he says of his life and business partner. “My wife, Lisa, and I have been married for 28 years and we always had different careers until now.”

In February 2012 –– Bliss can actually recount the exact years, months and days since Bliss’ opening –– the couple launched their contemporary Southern restaurant inside the building that was originally a Humble Oil gas station designed by Houston architect John Staub. It was one of the first chain gas station concepts rolled out in South Texas in the mid-20’s and functioned as a gas station until the late-60’s when it was transformed into an automobile service center with a rear addition. The structure served as an automotive garage until the 80’s, but then it sat dormant for decades.

The entire building was re-cladded in a layer of brick as a way to modernize it in the 60’s. While that covered up the historic elements of the original building, Rogers says it also preserved the details underneath in a manner the architect compares to a “time capsule.”

Converting a service station into a modern day restaurant brought with it various design challenges, the main one being: How do you fit a larger restaurant program that requires table seating and a reception area within 1,000 square feet of existing space? Rogers had to figure out an entry access and receiving area; how to resolve the space issue (it was too small for the level of investment); and how to create additional space without overshadowing the original historic structure.

“A big challenge came with certain restraints we had to work within, but the bigger challenge was not overwhelming the original historic structure which we wanted to celebrate as much as possible,” says Rogers. “The question became: How do we add an additional 2,500 square feet of space while doing that?”

When it came to creating a reception area, Rogers initially wanted to enclose the original drive-through area in solid glass.

However, the west-facing sun prevented that from happening so he designed a partially glassed-in area consisting of 70 percent galvanized metal panels and 30 percent glass louvered with Douglas fir wood blinds which yields an appealing level of transparency.

To create the 52-seat intimate dining room as well as accommodate a large chef ’s table in the kitchen, a private event dining room for up to 30 guests and seasonal outdoor dining, Rogers set out to minimize the size of the spaces while keeping them as functional as possible. He kept the rooflines low as to urbanhomemagazine.com

not overpower the original structure and relied on a contrast of materials throughout the design.

“I do not like to replicate historic buildings,” he says. “I would rather contrast with the historic structures thereby celebrating them.”

Bliss’ original building was brick masonry with a stucco exterior so the idea was to create contrast with galvanized metal panels.

“That allows the historic structure to be clearly identified and celebrated so all the new is rendered in the one material while the historic is in its one material,” says Rogers. “There are clear URBAN HOME AUSTIN – SAN ANTONIO

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definitions between what is new and what is old. That is key.”

On the interior, the original brick masonry building became the main dining room. The old ceiling was removed, leaving behind a beautiful antique pine wood overhead structure that provides a warm and pleasant acoustical factor for diners in the space while honoring its timelessness.

The brick walls in the central dining space were exposed but had been repainted several times. Rogers contemplated fully removing the paint or capitalizing on the beauty that came from these layers in order to reflect part of the building’s history and transformation through its 80-year lifespan.

“There was a certain intention of leaving this historic building as a raw element and celebrating its raw authenticity,” Rogers says. “It became an important aspect of the project.”

In order to make the new dining room seem equally as significant as the historic one, Rogers designed vaulted wooden slats above which flood the space with natural light.

“It gives it a modern interpretation of the older space but with a majestic quality,” he says of the same louvered system he incorporated in the reception and receiving bar areas, creating a visual connection between the front and rear of the restaurant.

On the exterior, Rogers wanted to ensure the new contrasted with the old. Through careful preservation of the old structure, the additional brick layer was peeled off the exterior of the building to reveal the original historic brick with a stucco finish.

“It also had beautiful tile work detail surrounding the building which required intense preservation work,” says Rogers who matched and replaced the ceramic colored tile where it was damaged.

Landscaping the site presented another obstacle. Sitting as a parking lot for many years, there were no existing well-defined parameters or any landscaping whatsoever. The parking lot and outdoor patio seating area were landscaped intensively with native plants to create a green oasis. Now guests entering 54

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and exiting the property feel connected to the local environment and neighborhood.

“It feels like an urban park setting with iconic views of downtown,” Rogers says. “You are connected with the small Lavaca neighborhood.

We brought down the scale of the parking lot and still offer views to the big city.”

Today, from the time guests walk into the restaurant and mingle at the charcuterie station and bar to the moment they leave the property, the Bliss experience is both inviting and inspiring.

Bliss says his dinner guests seem happy –– a steady mix of newcomers and about 85 to 90 percent locals.

“Our whole idea was elegant simplicity, which is not always an easy thing to do,” says Bliss.

“Candid did a wonderful job incorporating old and new. It is fantastic –– the space itself is absolutely gorgeous. We are very relaxed people. We wanted a place people came in, felt warm and welcome, and I think we did that really well.”

At Bliss, one can’t help but notice the celebration of both the materiality of the space as well as the culinary flavors at play.

“The architecture and the food complement each other that way, in that both celebrate what the ingredients are,” says Rogers. “Whether it’s the spices and ingredients in a certain dish or the different materials that come together to form a space –– they complement and contrast each other to enhance the overall presence and experience.”

Bliss says he has always enjoyed cooking –– for him, it’s been a job that has never been about notoriety but instead about striving to make people happy. Whether or not he is after fame, he’s achieved it in San Antonio. And Bliss says it is easy to get excited about the restaurant day after day, night after night because it’s the first business the couple has ever owned exclusively together. It’s a compromise between work, play and freedom –– the restaurant is only open Tuesdays through Saturdays.

“I can go in and change whatever I want on a daily basis –– it is a great work environment and everyone enjoys it,” says Bliss.

“We wanted to have a good lifestyle and a great restaurant –– to do something people would really enjoy and to have a life, too.” v RESTAURANT Bliss 210.225.2547 | Foodisbliss.com ARCHITECT Candid Rogers Studio 210.444.1051 | Candidrogers.com BUILDER Kopplow Construction 210.826.9888 | Kopplow.com urbanhomemagazine.com

TRUNK SHOW

By LEAH WILLIAMS

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Photography courtesy of THE ELEPHANT STORY

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rimming with treasures, The Elephant Story is a store, a story and so much more. Opened in Comfort, Texas, in 2012, its beginnings date back to a time when owner Ed Story (yes, that’s his real name) fell in love with a certain part of the world and the wondrous elephants that inhabited it, and what followed ended up becoming the story of his life — past, present and future.

It all began during the Vietnam War era. Heavily involved in defense fuel supplies, Story spent seven years from 1968-75 assigned by what is now Exxon to work in the Far East region, falling in love with the area.

“I thought I would spend the rest of my life there,” he says.

In 1974, feeling rootless, he began looking for land in Texas to coincide with a likely future move to Houston, working for Exxon and a few others before eventually forming SOCO 56

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International oil exploration company in 1991. “I drove every day looking for ranch property,” he recalls, and stopped when he found Comfort. “I built a cabin up here. That was 40 years ago.”

Fast forward, and now Ed Story, wife Joey Story, and partner Bobby Dent found a way to combine their love for Texas, Thailand, Asian elephants, conservation, renovation, restoration and retail into an enterprise that doesn’t just look good — it does good.

That’s where the elephants come in. Not literally, as there are no elephants in Comfort. When Ed first had the idea of a not-for-profit store to be housed in the historic building — originally a pool hall — that Joey and Dent bought and urbanhomemagazine.com

restored, “both looked at me like I was crazy.” He wasn’t deterred. “I said we’re going to sell crafts and all these things that people make and raise funds and send them back to Thailand principally for Asian elephant conservation.”

So that’s exactly what they did.

Asian elephant conservation is the primary focus of The Elephant Story, but not the only one. The store supports indigenous crafts and textile groups in Asian elephant countries — primarily the Golden Triangle area of Thailand, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos — by providing a market for their goods. The store’s website (the-elephant-story.com) shows a stellar lineup of artists and artisans, each providing background on the handmade products and who makes them. Unique and colorful scarves, jewelry, candles, gift items, clothing, purses, bags, toys, books and more adorn the site and eventually, lucky shoppers.

Carol Cassidy (laotextiles.com), for example, “is a genius working with silk,” enthuses Ed Story. An American, she employs 50 Lao weavers and dyers in Vientiane, Laos, to create intricate brocades and tapestries; in Cambodia, more than 80 Cambodian war survivors have built homes with electricity and fresh water by working as spinners, weavers and finishers. The others are equally fascinating: Handmade stationery by The Jaab Design Company (jaabcards.com), a cottage industry in Bangkok, donates a portion of their proceeds to breast cancer research for women in Thailand; and photographer/conservationist Carol Stevenson, who is working on a five-year project documenting the vanishing Asian elephant and their singular mahout community in Northern Thailand, founded the Adopt An Elephant program designed to return elephants to their natural habitat.

Elephants are a big part of the culture of Thailand, says Story, used for long ago warfare and later in the logging industry. “When logging ceased, the elephants were left with nothing to do.” Some mahouts — the trainers and owners — would take their elephants to the bustling streets of Bangkok, selling sugar cane and bananas to the tourists to feed to the elephants, some of whom were on their feet up to ten hours a day in a highly stressful environment.

“Bangkok is not a natural place for elephants to live,” says Story.

“So far we have taken 30 elephants off the streets of Bangkok and moved them to a natural habitat in the Golden Triangle.”

But it’s about more than saving elephants, says Story. “It’s saving people and families. We’ve basically adopted the school in this little elephant village in northeastern Thailand, and hope to train students in ecotourism and economics, to develop ways to provide a self-sustaining framework for themselves and the elephants.”

Part of those efforts involve elephant polo. A 39-minute video on the website illustrates its history, clips from the matches, and interactions between the highly social gentle giants and the players. In Nepal and Thailand, elephant polo is played under the auspices of the World Elephant Polo Association, which enforces URBAN HOME AUSTIN – SAN ANTONIO

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strict rules pertaining to elephant welfare and game play. The pitch (field) is about the size of a soccer field, and elephants at top speed can move up to 12 miles per hour. “I know that doesn’t seem very fast, but when you’re on top of one holding on, it’s pretty fast,” says Story, who broke his foot off six years ago, not from falling off an elephant, but by toppling from his practice truck in Texas. Players sit on a thin pad (no riding platforms are used), bamboo mallets can be up to 100 inches long depending on the height of the elephant, and the mahout sits on the head to steer using verbal commands and tapping behind the ears.

A match consists of two seven minute halves and a 15 minute intermission, “but every time the ball goes out the play is stopped, so a match takes about an hour,” says Story. Sometimes the elephants themselves playfully hit the balls with their trunks, “which they’re not supposed to do, but we think they’re trying to help out the humans.” Sometimes controversial, the sport has taken heat in other places, “but it’s never been an issue in Thailand,” says Story. “In Thailand, elephants are revered. If people have concerns, they should get familiar with [the sport] and see what happens and how the animals enjoy it.” Last year’s King’s Cup elephant polo tournament raised $150,000 for the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation. The 2014 annual King’s Cup tournament will be in Bangkok from August 2731and total funds raised for elephant conservation should 58

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surpass $1 million since the annual tournament began.

You can’t leave The Elephant Story without trying their most exotic, unusual, and quite pricey offering — the coveted Black Ivory Coffee made from beans “processed” by the elephants’ own digestive systems and harvested from their “deposits,” resulting in a rich, smooth brew.

The store is “the only place in North America to my knowledge that you can get it retail,” says Story. At $40 per four-serving packet — $50 if prepared and served in the store — the coffee for home use can be bought in the store or ordered by phone. Adds Bobby Dent, “It’s especially popular for people trying to find something unique for 14th wedding anniversaries.” Turns out the gift for that year is ivory, an unethical choice these days, so Black Ivory Coffee has become a popular alternative.

As for Comfort, the little town didn’t quite know what to make of the store at first. “People saw the elephant images and thought we were part of the Republican Party,” quips Story. But they’ve increasingly embraced The Elephant Story, its mission, and the national and international attention it’s garnered.

“Comfort is becoming a destination in its own right, so this adds another wrinkle to it.” v For more information, the-elephant-story.com, 723 High Street, Comfort, Texas, 830.995.3133. Open Thursday-Sunday.

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REALTOR’S ADVICE

MAXIMIZE YOUR RETURN

ON INVESTMENT

By Bill Evans, 2014 President, Austin Board of REALTORS®

A

ccording to the Texas Association of Realtor’s 2014 Texas Remodel Valuation Report, home remodeling projects in Austin had the largest project recoup costs of the five major markets in Texas. The highest project returned over 110 percent of the original remodel project cost. If you’re thinking about remodeling a part of your home, consider these three areas for maximum return on investment.

INCREASING LIVABLE SPACE Expanding a home’s livable square footage is very practical right now. Renovations to an attic for an extra bedroom or a basement remodel for storage space have a good chance of providing profitable returns. However, home wood deck additions have proven to be the best return on investment over the past year, recouping costs at 111.9 percent. Installing a wood deck not only increases space, it also increases curb appeal, maximizing profitability in one of the fastest growing cities in the nation.

FUNCTION OVER FORM For the best return on investment, consider projects that increase or update the functionality of the entire home and its inhabitants. Practical remodels to a kitchen and bathroom have shown better recoup costs compared to more vanity renovations recently. Whether it’s updating the piping, installing more energy efficient appliances or new cabinet schematics for storage space, these projects are going a longer way in terms of recouping costs as opposed to sunroom and master suite additions or home office remodels.

BACKUP POWER GENERATOR Any projects that increase a home’s sustainability are an efficient way to get the most bang for your buck. Installing a backup power generator has become one of the most popular additions to a home over the past couple of years. A natural gas or propane generator can provide a home with lighting, air conditioning and the ability to use kitchen appliances whenever the power goes out unexpectedly. They last significantly longer than portable generators and can handle much more stress and tension.

Whether you’re in Round Rock looking to add a wood deck or updating the inner infrastructure of a home in east Austin, odds are your setting up for a profit. How will you maximize you return on investment? v

DESTINED TO DESIGN:

TOM WATKINS

By JACKIE BENTON

“

Y

ou could say I was born to become a craftsman,” says Tom Watkins.

“Or, you could say I became one because I was born in the right place with the right people and places around me.”

Watkins’ childhood memories are infused with the scent of sawdust from his father’s workshop, where the elder Watkins created 18th century American reproduction furniture. From the time he was ten-years-old and able to hold a hand saw, Watkins was in his father’s shop, learning the craft and skill he would use later to create his beautiful designs. Combine this with an artistic mother who just happened to be a professional fashion designer, and it seems Watkins was almost predestined to pursue a career of artistry.

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“Both of my parents created their works with their hands. From my father I had a sense of the traditional arts, and from my mother an appreciation of and an eye for creating new designs,” says Watkins. “And, I guess growing up in Michigan near the Cranbrook Academy of Art didn’t hurt, either,” laughs Watkins, citing the Cranbrook, with its strong community involvement and forwardthinking alumni, as playing a highly influential role in his designs.

Watkins left his father’s woodworking shop and moved on to attend the Professional Violin Making School of America under the tutelage of Master Craftsmen from Mittenwald, Germany.

Still, after years as a successful luthier, Watkins felt something was missing, and returned to his first love: making furniture. But this time there was one major difference: instead of creating furnishings that followed traditional standards, Watkins decided to push the envelope a bit, drawing on his past experience to infuse his designs with the unique ability to embrace the traditional, while taking those traditions a step further.

The resulting furnishings and designs by Watkins are at once simple, and yet complex and has made him a “one to watch” talent among Central Texas architects and interior designers alike since his move to Texas from Michigan. Watkins’ pieces fall into the category of modern, with the signature clean and pure lines, but the richness of materials and the care with which his furnishings are made go straight back to the traditional furniture pieces he learned to create in his father’s workshop as a boy.

The move to Texas also brought Watkins an unexpected discovery. In addition to the traditional woods he was used to working with: walnut, maple, cherry, mahogany and pine, Watkins discovered a new wood, called Sinker Cypress. “Sinker Cypress is just a beautiful wood to work with — the color ranges from a deep gold to a dark olive green, depending on where the wood was found. These are cypress logs that have been underwater in marshes for decades, and have been preserved. They’re kind of urbanhomemagazine.com

the ultimate in reclaimed, sustainable wood harvested from the southeastern states, and I particularly love the rich colors of the pieces we get from the Louisiana bayous.”

The influences of Watkins’ early years as well as his years spent as a luthier are evident in the richness of the selected woods, which are at once rich and resplendent, while the simple lines of his pieces exude a kind of contained energy and warmth. Watkins’ “Boomerang Coffee Table” is just that: a table shaped like a boomerang, with Fifties-era modern contemporary styling, but how Watkins uses the patterns of the selected mahogany, maple or walnut woods gives a warmth to the table’s clean lines.

Similarly, Watkins’ “Three Legged Chair” is reminiscent of the American Craft Movement, and at first glance looks more like a chair for display than for actual use, but is actually quite comfy to sit in. Again, Watkins’ understanding of how to best mesh the artistic with the practical comes to the fore.

Watkin’s sensitive and subtle design sensibility has brought him many custom and commissioned works in addition to the pieces he offers for sale on his website, and his latest assignment may be viewed by the public when the Hotel Emma, a four-star boutique hotel alongside the Pearl Brewery’s amphitheater on the San Antonio River, opens later this year.

“My work and my furniture are made in such a way that you really don’t notice it at first when you enter the room,” says Watkins. “After you’ve been in the room a little while, you see it. My work is very subtle, and fits in as part of the room, but it’s not the ‘Wow! Jazz hands!’ part of the room. But, very often, my work becomes the most loved part — because it is comfortable and beautiful and makes you feel at home. And ultimately, that is what I strive to achieve — that quiet beauty.” v WATKINS FURNITURE 231.392.2575 | Watkinsfurniture.com URBAN HOME AUSTIN – SAN ANTONIO

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OUTDOOR n DESIGN

A JOYFUL NOISE

By JULIE CATALANO

T

he calming sight of a cool pool and the irritating cacophony of a busy road go together about as well as oil and water. For this backyard makeover in Northwest Hills, Austin, priority one was blocking out the traffic sounds from a nearby crosstown thoroughfare. The creative use of water features brought peace to the poolside and a welcome splash of serenity to its grateful inhabitants.

The house itself — a 1950s vintage ranch style residence set among a canopy of native oak trees on a .41 acre lot — had already been through an extensive and meticulous remodel by the award-winning father-and-son design-and-build team of David Davison, president, CR, CKBR (Certified Remodeler, Certified Kitchen and Bath Remodeler) and Christopher Davison, AIA, of Realty Restoration, LLC in Austin.

The home now boasts a new open floor plan with an exquisite kitchen perfect for entertaining, rooms featuring Old World touches incorporating mesquite, knotty alder and reclaimed pine, a bronze-finish standing seam metal roof, the rare quarried stone front facade, cobblestone pavers and much more. The result was a Texas Tuscan beauty, much to the delight of the homeowners who welcomed the idea of the home’s outdoor

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|

Photography by CHRISTOPHER DAVISON

warmth carried through to the rustic, sophisticated indoors.

And then there was the backyard pool — outdated, unsightly and downright hazardous, with its original rough plaster finish and rotting wood deck. Coupled with the less-than-pleasing soundtrack from the highway, the dilapidated eyesore added insult to design injury.

Fortunately for the Davisons, the homeowners knew of the sound benefits of water features from a recent trip to Italy.

Tired of being unable to enjoy their own backyard without the constant drone of traffic that ranged from tolerable to teethrattling, they were ready for anything that would put them on the path to peace and quiet, especially during — yikes! — motorcycle rally weekends.

Designing this highly specialized project was a first for the team. “We had done water features in the past as part of a pool’s renovation, but never specifically designed to address noise issues using a stand alone.”

Make that three stand alones. The first was a small, four-sided fountain adjacent to the newly renovated master suite and porch.

Constructed of limestone slabs — the clients have friends who have a ranch with a quarry — the fountain’s centerpiece is a large URBAN HOME AUSTIN – SAN ANTONIO

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hexagonal pillar of six mitered pieces made to look like a single column, where the water circulates from the pump to the spouts to the catch basin and back again. It produced just enough “white noise” to act as “a natural sleep aid,” says Christopher.

“I think this is something that even a client without a noise problem could appreciate.”

The second was the hot tub built on one end of the pool.

With an inner diameter of 7 feet, 6 inches, a second threefoot wide negative spillway created the pleasant sound of a waterfall splashing to the pool below. Oklahoma flagstone on the pool deck surround (which was used throughout the outdoor project) was incorporated into the hot tub coping and ultimately provided the clean edge required to promote a smooth, sheer flow of water that “comes directly from the hot tub,” says Christopher. “In the heat of summer it’s obviously urbanhomemagazine.com

not turned on, and in the winter helps to heat the pool to some degree.”

We saved the best for last: The indisputable focal point of the overall design is the eye-catching lineup of three large Tuscan urns set along a 47 foot stone/plaster screen wall, softened by natural greenery and standing 66 inches tall off the pool deck and up to 15 feet tall in the back to hide the steps down to a lower side yard.

“The urns are approximately 38 inches tall,” says David, “and we made custom stainless steel cradles (feet) that make them appear to be sitting on the water.” Lovely to look at — the homeowners chose the colors to match the blue pool tiles — they’re even easier on the ears. Three individually controlled spouts give complete control over the flow rate, with water cascading down the sides of the urn to a catch pool, trickling down a series of dry stack Oklahoma stone steps, and finishing its journey in a recirculating trench that connects the three water features together and sends the water back to the pump — every step of the way creating more white noise to muffle the din of pesky traffic. The urns are from Desert Dreams in Austin, and the 6 x 6 Blue/ Tan Azurite pool tiles are from Little Tile, Inc. in Yorba Linda, California.

Unique constructability issues came with the project, such as blending the newly renovated home with an existing pool shell and elevations that did not coincide. The main water feature of the urns presented a real challenge, adds David, “in getting the common gutter elevation coordinated with the opposite sloping flagstone surface.” For Christopher the biggest challenge was the pool construction. “The client wanted a seamless pool deck all the way to the water’s edge so the flagstone was laid overlapping the pool edge and then was cut to a smooth radius to follow the irregular shape of the pool.”

The completed project yielded one unexpected result, says Christopher. Initially the water features were designed to be more of a distraction, essentially the next best thing to eliminating the noise. “But we ended up drowning it out completely,” he says.

“With the exception of the occasional Harley-Davidson.”

The intermittent vroom-vroom aside, the backyard is now both a restful respite and a lively gathering place. Now guests are surprised to turn off of that busy road, drive up to the house, and find themselves in a calming oasis. Pools are not uncommon in homes, says Christopher, “but water features tend to pull people outdoors, turning what could otherwise be a more formal indoor gathering into a more relaxed outdoor one.” In fact, the Davisons have attended several social events at the residence, “and the fountains and urns are the hit of the party.” Sounds wonderful. v DESIGN-BUILD Realty Restoration, LLC 512.454.1661 | Realtyrestoration.com URBAN HOME AUSTIN – SAN ANTONIO

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FOOD n DESIGN

THE ART OF

CHARCUTERIE

By BETH BOND

CONTIGO

Say you’ve got a whole pig on your hands and you’re feeling bold. How do you coax out the most intense flavors using only salt, a few spices and the umami-producing magic of time?

This is the challenge readily accepted by a handful of chefs in Central Texas, and their answers range from rillettes and pâté to sausage and even face bacon. Yes, face bacon — keep reading and we’ll explain.

I

CURED, BY SCOTT MARTIN

n short, they’re turning whole hogs into charcuterie: prepared meats (often but not exclusively pork) preserved to lock in their flavors. Think of it as the all-meat version of a cheese platter: an assortment of textures and tastes best experienced with sweet or sharp accompaniments to cut the richness.

Preserved meats predate the refrigerator by hundreds of years, and the styles most popular today were first cured and 66

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LÜKE

SALT & TIME

eaten by Southern European peasants. The local chefs profiled here each work with a strong sense of classic French, Spanish and Italian traditions while adding modern style and distinctively Texas-forward flavors to their charcuterie boards. They each use every last bit of animals ethically raised at area farms — all with the end goal of amusing and even surprising their customers’ taste buds. urbanhomemagazine.com

CONTIGO AUSTIN Photography by KNOX PHOTOGRAPHICS

This East Austin wonder takes relaxed dining seriously so you can take it easy. Its menu encourages splitting and sampling several small portions, which chef/owner Andrew Wiseheart describes as a selfish design “because it’s the way we like to eat.”

But honestly, we’re just happy he’s generous enough to share his ranch-inspired cooking.

BY BRUCE MALONE

Find a spot at a picnic table under a string of lights and pick and choose from the charcuterie options as you please. With the exception of the pork liver pâté, the menu changes daily but typically lists five of the seven to 10 items in rotation at Contigo.

“People like that they can try something for $7 rather than make a $20 to $30 commitment,” Wiseheart said. “We offer our items a la carte so that we can create a composed dish out of each item. We start with the main ingredient and create a dish around that depending on the ingredients and the flavors and how rich it is.”

That pork liver pâté? Its texture is complemented by eggplant fritters drizzled with honey from the restaurant’s namesake Contigo Ranch and served with a toasted baguette. “Once you put everything into a bite, it’s all really harmonious,” Wiseheart said.

Face bacon is another Contigo mainstay. Here’s the process: A hog’s entire head is seasoned and cured like bacon, then rolled up, smoked, cured and sliced thinly. The finished product is “a really pretty slice with lots of textures because the tongue and ears have lots of cartilage.” Pickled tomatillo and arugula add both acidic and peppery flavors, Texas-style. Give it a shot. You’ll most likely love it — and you get to say, “I ate face bacon for dinner.”

Contigotexas.com | 512.614.2260 CURED Photography by DAVID RANGEL

Sure, Cured deals in cured meats, but there’s more to the name than that. After learning the restaurant ropes in New Orurbanhomemagazine.com

leans working with John Besh for 10 years, Steve McHugh relocated in 2010 to run a new eatery for the acclaimed chef in San Antonio. Around the same time, he was diagnosed with lymphoma. He calls the move “serendipitous — because I couldn’t get the care I needed back in New Orleans.”

He went through treatments of chemotherapy, got cured and then got Cured.

“When you have that kind of scare in your life, you reevaluate,” he said. “My wife and I decided to do something on our own. Sometimes things like that jumpstart you.”

Since December of last year McHugh’s been making what he calls “the best ham you’ll find in San Antonio,” plus blood sausage, braised kidneys, a super-popular smoked duck ham, bresaola and more in a giant custom-built curing case that greets customers as they step through the door. The seasons dictate the daily changes in the Southern-style menu, which features charcuterie made from all parts of a hog because, McHugh said, “there’s no such thing as a pork belly farm.”

As Cured’s curator, McHugh creates his charcuterie boards as a mix of animals — from a lamb-and-citrus terrine to venison to a “very approachable” chicken liver mousse — plus housemade brewer’s crackers flavored with coriander and cumin, mustard, marmalades and pickles of cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkin and more. One of the chef/owner’s favorite items?

Whipped pork butter. “I don’t know of anyone who is doing that,” he said. “It eats like butter and looks like icing. I spread it on cornbread but I’ve seen people put the whipped pork butter on a sausage. “There’s no wrong way to eat it.”

Curedatpearl.com | 210.314.3929 LÜKE Photography courtesy of BESH RESTAURANT GROUP

At Lüke San Antonio, the recipes have been around the world, but the food is from right here. “It’s the food of the Alsace region of France and Germany mixed with Texas ingredients and a whole scoop of New Orleans,” said executive chef John Russ. “Out of all the menu items, 100 percent of that plate comes from within 65 miles from us — with the exception of the glass of the plate.”

Whole animals are transformed into pancetta, ham and sausage, and sometimes the process takes up to a year. “It’s so fun URBAN HOME AUSTIN – SAN ANTONIO

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because we can show people the product at different stages,” Russ said. “We’re not buying a Cryovaced product and opening it up. We buy it from producers and let it hang and cure it.”

A selection of about five charcuterie items varies, but two constants are a pâté de campagne of pork shoulder and a chicken and rabbit liver mousse (“earthy, buttery and spreads so nicely on toast,” Russ raves). A wintertime special is hog’s head cheese, a semigelatinous forcemeat that’s great spread on a saltine or a po-boy.

If the name gives you pause, here’s the chef speaking in terms we Texans can understand: “It’s bursting with flavors and textures and it’s like the best barbacoa that you’ve ever had.”

Lukesanantonio.com | 210.227.5853 SALT & TIME

is cured pork shoulder, to ricotta gnocchi or slathering spicy, spreadable salami called n’duja tejano to your burger.

Hankering for those Texas flavors? Salt & Time uses classic techniques to create cured meats with a local flavor profile. Try the pecan-studded salami or the salami flavored with chili pequin and Mexican oregano. saltandtime.com | (512) 524-1383

CREATING A

CHARCUTERIE BOARD AT HOME

Advice from Chef Steve McHugh of Cured 1. Start with some good-quality ingredients — but you don’t have to get Spanish Jamón Ibérico. Columbus® brand salame is cheaper than imported and it’s from California. Buy a goodquality mustard. Get a good crusty bread from a local bakery.

2. Buy things you like but also a few new things. They can be so colorful, so vibrant, such showstoppers — so try something new!

3. Let everything come to room temperature before it’s time to eat.

4. Buy more than you would think you’ll need. If you don’t use it, don’t worry. It’s already been cured for 12 months, so another day on the table won’t hurt it. Eat it with eggs the next morning or on a sandwich for lunch.

Photography by ROBERT LEMA

Sometimes you don’t have to pick between quality and quantity — at Salt & Time, you get both. This capital city lunch-and-dinner spot is also a full-service retail butcher that can produce 80 to 100 different types of charcuterie items, with 40 to 50 of those available on any given day.

“We do a lot of things but try to do them all well,” co-owner Ben Runkle said humbly.

Order a salumi board to sample a variety of meats or try putting charcuterie to use another way: as a component of entrees like pastas or sandwiches. Runkle suggests adding coppa, which 68

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PICKLED CUCUMBERS Courtesy of Chef Steve McHugh of Cured

INGREDIENTS 3 each Cucumbers, large, peeled and sliced 5 teaspoons Salt 1 small White onion, thinly sliced 1 cup White distilled vinegar .5 cup Water PROCEDURE Place cucumber slices and onions in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for ten minutes. Add the vinegar and water to the bowl and allow to sit for three hours before eating. Enjoy alone or with Charcuterie meats! v urbanhomemagazine.com

FABULOUS n FINDS

DESTINATION:

LOST MAPLES

By JULIE CATALANO

Seasons, schmeasons.

Texas definitely has an autumn. You just have to know where to look for those sublime colors gracing thousands of trees — our glorious reward after a long, hot summer. Take heart. Fall is just around the corner, and about 90 miles west of San Antonio.

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LOST MAPLES STATE NATURAL AREA 37221 FM 187, Vanderpool 830.966.3413 Tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/lost-maples Admission $3-$6 Photography by Richard Treece, Texas Parks and Wildlife A picture might be worth a thousand words, but sometimes not even pictures or words do justice to a place like Lost Maples, 2,000+ acres of pure heaven if all the right conditions come together. “The first thing people want to know is, ‘What kind of color are we going to have this year?’” says Richard Treece, park police officer and interpreter, with a good-natured laugh. “I tell them I don’t know. Mother Nature didn’t send me that email.” Treece starts working on the park’s website around September to prepare for the foliage reports, and by October and November he’s updating the site weekly with on-the-spot photos.

So what makes good color for the bigtooth maple? “Cold fronts,” says Treece. “At least two good ones, in the 30s, in October. That’s the trigger that makes the trees start turning.” But even without the coveted chill, it’s not an all-or-nothing situation. “The color may be localized in one part of the canyon, then another, and another, throughout the park.” Whether the trees explode in color all at once or take their turn, nothing deters the thousands of visitors who flock to the site every year. Peak time for trees and traffic is around Veterans Day, and all the weekends, with the 30 RV hookups booked up to 11 months in advance. “Come during the week,” advises Treece, as parking is available for only 250 cars.

The fall extravaganza aside, Lost Maples is “beautiful year-round,” says Treece, with spectacular birding in the spring and guided birding

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tours in March and April. And fascinating species of plants like the Scarlet Clematis (clematis texensis), a springtime flower found no place but this part of Texas. “We have a very unique ecosystem.”

The headwaters of the Sabinal River are here, along with limestone canyons and grasslands.

Primarily a hiking park (some trails can be rugged), opportunities abound for picnicking (tables are first-come, first-served), primitive camping, fishing, some swimming, and of course photography. No horseback riding. Bring hats, sunscreen and insect repellant, and “check for burn bans before you come,” adds Treece, for those who want to use outdoor grills.

Treece says that as gorgeous as the park is, don’t miss the viewing opportunities on the drive there — particularly from Bandera on Texas 337 through Medina, following the Medina River, coming up on the park with the east facing mountain slopes ahead. The maples urbanhomemagazine.com

HATTIE BARHAM PHOTOGRAPHY

may be the stars, but the supporting cast is equally stellar: sycamores turn golden brown, cypresses boast golden red, lacey oaks are yellow, and the black walnuts bright yellow. In their eagerness to get to the park, says Treece, some people miss the big picture. “The drive is worth a million dollars,” says Treece, “It is Hill Country beauty at its finest.” v

LOST AND FOUND

You know the saying that it’s not the destination, it’s the journey? A trip to Lost Maples is both, with intriguing stops all around. So fire up the GPS or unfold that frayed Texas road map to find some small town treasures.

THE LONE STAR MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM 36517 Hwy 187 North, Vanderpool 830.966.6103 | Lonestarmotorcyclemuseum.com

indeed in the town itself. “We don’t have a stoplight, but we have gourmet food and a movie with Robert Duvall.” Open on Saturdays for lunch and dinner. Reservations required. Bring your own wine.

THE HUNT STORE 1634 Texas 39, Hunt 830.238.4410 | Thehuntstore.com This isn’t just a little bit country, it’s a whole lot of country.

HILL COUNTRY ARTS FOUNDATION “The store,” as it’s known in these parts (about 35 miles northeast of Lost Maples), is a one-stop shop in the same spot for 67 years, with a cafe, grocery, patio, rocking chairs and nice folks. Hunt used to be the home of Stonehenge II, an impressive replica of the famous ancient monument in England. Saved from destruction, it was recently moved to the campus of the Hill Country Arts Foundation (hcaf.com) in Ingram, seven miles east of Hunt.

CAMP VERDE GENERAL STORE & RESTAURANT 285 Camp Verde Road East 830.634.7722 | Campverdegeneralstore.com

At just one mile south of Lost Maples on Hwy 187, this is cool even for non-fans, with a collection of bikes from the early 20th century to modern day. The cafe offers Aussie Angus meat pies, ready-to-eat or frozen to go. Open Friday-Sunday from March through November, $6 adults; senior, military, group discount. Age 14 and under free.

THE LAUREL TREE 18956 N. FM 187, Utopia 830.966.5444 | Utopiagourmet.com Utopia is most famous for “Seven Days in Utopia,” a 2011 film starring Robert Duvall that still draws fans to Utopia Golf in this tiny town (pop. 227) about 16 miles south of Lost Maples. Ten years ago vivacious chef/owner Laurel Waters wondered “if people were going to come out here to eat in the middle of nowhere.” They did — to savor a delectable fine dining menu that changes weekly. Fresh is key here. “If I don’t grow it on the property, I hand select everything,” says Waters, who takes pride in the herb and vegetable gardens, greenhouse, and urbanhomemagazine.com

RON PRITCHETT PHOTOGRAPHY

About 40 miles east of Lost Maples, it’s a scenic drive off the beaten path but worth it. The original 1857 general store established for the soldiers at Fort Verde was demolished by a flood in 1900, making way for the present two-story southern Colonial stone structure set along the Verde Creek with large patios, fireplace, waterfall, ancient shade trees and a front porch for a sit-and-visit. The store has artisan jams, jellies and sauces. The restaurant offers soups, salads, burgers, country faves and lots of sandwiches. Open daily except major holidays from 9-5. Restaurant, lunch only, 11-3.

URBAN HOME AUSTIN – SAN ANTONIO

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REMODELER’S ADVICE

RENOVATING A HISTORIC HOME

J

DECORATOR’S ADVICE

A FRESH, NEW LOOK AT REMODELING

By Catrina Kendrick, Catrina’s Ranch Interiors

A

eff Bullard of Avenue B Development, an expert in historic home renovations, provides advice and statistics to consider when purchasing a historic home to remodel.

Many homeowners prefer to live in a historic home for several different reasons.

SAVANA Combining exquisite craftsmanship, unique architectural details like lovely windows SCHROEDER-BECKMAN, President, Austin NARI and old growth wood floors, and treelined neighborhoods, historic homes offer a character and sense of place that cannot often be matched. In essence, homes with deep history instill its owners with a sense of belonging that transcends their own ownership of the home.

But initially, historic homes are not always the most practical. Renovating older homes RODNEY HILL, President, creates a number of challenges that homeowners NARI San Antonio need to be prepared for, including “unknown unknowns” that can lead to higher costs and longer timeframes.

However, that is just a short-term perspective. In the long-term, older homes often generate more value (and thus homeowner equity) and are one of the best kinds of sustainable buildings.

Older homes are often found in the densest central neighborhoods — those where demand always exceeds supply. If you can find a great home in a neighborhood that needs to be renovated, and then renovate in a smart, sustainable way that preserves the character of the home, you will realize an incredibly high return on your investment. On average, our clients recoup more than 100% of their investment at sale, as historic homes that have been thoughtfully updated and renovated are rare and in high demand.

Rehabilitating existing structures is also the best kind of “green” building. In fact, it has been estimated that a new, green, energyefficient building that includes as much as 40 percent recycled materials would nevertheless take approximately 65 years to recover the energy lost in demolishing a comparable existing building.

When we renovate a historic home, we salvage as much as possible in the existing home including flooring, trim work and lighting where possible. We use a great local window restoration company, Red River Restorations, to restore old wood windows to make them more energy efficient; in fact, old wood windows last longer and rot less than new wood windows due to the old growth wood they are made of.

The end result of a thoughtfully renovated older home: a true sense of place and belonging, high return on investment, increased equity and a contribution to the overall sustainability of your community. v

fter just returning from England, I have a new appreciation of remodeling.

My husband is English and has a traditional three bedroom house situated in Worcestershire, in the heart of England. It was built in the early 50’s, and it would benefit from the modern conveniences which we Americans can’t live without.

Although lovely in its day, the wallpaper was from a bygone era. I love English roses, just not on my wallpaper. All of the rooms had small fireplaces in which coal was once burned. If I took out the living room fireplace I could open up two rooms to accommodate larger furniture. Can you tell that I’m from Texas? Hmmm…I wonder if when I rip up the carpet I would find hardwood floors. I can’t wait to go back and get started. It is my new “Happy Place” that I go to just before I fall asleep.

While there, we stayed at a friend’s home near Oxford. This Tudor style home is a conversion of a five hundred-year-old carriage house! Situated right off the main street, it has a slate roof, exposed beams inside and a beautiful, old Cotswold stone fireplace. The home was originally divided into three row houses, with three families living there for hundreds of years. Our friend purchased all three as they became available, and opened them up creating a home with larger rooms. The home has two kitchens, one on each side, and I found this very convenient.

One could be used for every day, and the other could be used for baking or for a prep area for the patio and outdoor meals. At the rear of the house is a large wooden deck which overlooks a long English country garden.

Many people in England live in smaller homes situated in quaint villages with close-knit communities. These villages are surrounded by extensive country side and grand country estates.

I think the Brits enjoy living in close proximity to the village where they all know and care for each other. I imagine having to endure hundreds of years of wars and threats of invasion would inspire a community spirit. And who wants to drive far in snow and icy weather?

In conclusion, I feel blessed for my husband, and am so thankful for my trip to his homeland. It has truly made me appreciate our sprawling Texas home. I am also thankful for my furniture store, “Catrina’s Ranch Interiors” in Boerne, and my ability to help my clients realize their dreams when it comes to remodeling and redecorating. I know now that just about anything is possible, including creating a charming English home out of a five hundred-year-old carriage house! v

To find a professional remodeler in Austin or San Antonio, visit: Austinnari.org or Remodelsanantonio.org.

To begin, call 830.755.6355/210.535.3070 and visit www. catrinasranchinteriors.com.

Push Pull Open Close

WE BRING THE SHOWROOM TO YOU. To set an appointment call 512.694.7762 or jdhiebert@pushpullopenclose.com.

A DV E RT I S E R I N D E X

ASSOCIATIONS AIA Austin www.aiaaustin.org 512.452.4332 AIA San Antonio www.aiasa.org 210.226.4979 Austin NARI www.austinnari.org 512.997.NARI Magdalena House www.maghouse.org 210.561.0505 NARI San Antonio www.remodelsanantonio.org 210.348.6274

CONCRETE REPAIR

Scott + Cooner www.scottcooner.com Austin: 512.480.0436 Dallas: 214.748.9838

GATED LAKESIDE COMMUNITY The Reserve At Lake Travis 800.214.3142 www.reserveatlaketravis.com

GLASS & WINDOWS

BMC Window Center www.buildwithbmc.com Austin: 512.977.7440 San Antonio: 210.494.8889

Big Grass www.biggrassliving.com 210.735.7999

HARDWARE

CUSTOM CABINETRY & DESIGN

HOME BUILDERS

CUSTOM METAL WORK

FURNITURE & DESIGN Catrina’s Ranch Interiors www.catrinasranchinteriors.com 830.755.6355 / 210.535.3070

Diamante Custom Homes www.diamantehomes.com 210.341.6430 Foursquare Builders www.foursquarebuilders.com 512.944.4520

HOME REMODELING CG&S Design-Build www.cgsdb.com 512.444.1580 Realty Restoration www.realtyrestoration.com 512.454.1661

Copenhagen Contemporary Furniture & Accessories www.copenhagenliving.com San Antonio: 210.545.4366 Austin: 512.451.1233

David Wilkes Builders www.davidwilkesbuilders.com 512.328.9888

Hopkins Boulevard Imports www.hopkinsblvdimports.com 210.375.3138

Bella Villa Design www.bellavillads.com 512.443.3200

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URBAN HOME AUSTIN – SAN ANTONIO

LIGHTING Lights Fantastic www.lightsfantastic.com 512.452.9511

Push Pull Open Close www.pushpullopenclose.com 512.694.7762

Christopher Voss Inc. – Fourth Generation Iron Craftsman www.christophervoss.com 210.843.4332

Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery www.ferguson.com 210.344.3013

Anchor Ventana www.ventanaman.com 512.388.9400

Trim-A-Slab www.trim-a-slab.com 512.943.7655

Swanx www.swanxcabinetry.com 512.809.6226

KITCHEN & BATH Factory Builder Stores www.factorybuilderstores.com Austin: 512.834.1442 San Antonio: 210.349.9333

INTERIOR DESIGN

OUTDOOR LIVING

Cozy Outdoor Escapes www.cozyoutdoorescapes.com 210.276.0734 Timber Town www.timbertownaustin.com 512.528.8112

POOLS Designer Pools & Outdoor Living www.designerpoolstx.com 512.561.4211

REAL ESTATE Austin Board of Realtors www.austinhomesearch.com

Phyllis Browning Company www.phyllisbrowning.com 210.824.7878 San Antonio Board of Realtors www.sabor.com

WINDOW COVERINGS & AWNINGS Austintatious Blinds and Shutters www.austintatiousblinds.com 512.608.0302 Texas Sun & Shade www.txsunandshade.com 512.402.0990

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