An upcoming building renovation and expansion on South Lamar might manage to please both local preservationists and new urbanists, if that’s even possible. According to our sibling site Eater Austin, plans are in the works to renovate the Dawson Stone House, a city and state landmark, and to expand the space for a new coffee bar.
Eater Austin’s Nadia Chaudhury reports that the city’s Historic Landmark Commission last spring approved a rear addition, including decks, and the relocation of a window; the Texas Historical Commission now needs to sign off on the changes before the project can proceed.
Chaudhury adds that the home was built around 1900 and that it received state landmark status in 1974. The building was most recently a LoanStar Title Loans.
FBR Management, which oversee a Dawson House neighbor, Gibson Street Bar, other bars including Lala’s Little Nugget, has commissioned local design rock stars Michael Hsu Office of Architecture to create the renovation and expansion plans, Chaudhury reports.
Hsu’s firm is responsible for a wide variety of innovative residential and commercial designs in Austin, including everything from restaurants Sway and Olivia to the Lamar Union and Canopy complexes.
• New Coffee Bar Revives Neglected Historic Landmark [Eater Austin]