Sneak peek: Austin Modern Home Tour

The 11th annual Austin Modern Home Tour, founded by GoodLife Luxury and produced by the Modern Architecture and Design Studio, takes place this Saturday. As always, the tour opens some of the city’s best examples of modern and contemporary residential design to the public and provides opportunities to speak to the architects and builders that conceptualized and executed those homes.

The 2019 tour mix is stylistically varied, with all the homes interpreting what “modern” means in different ways. Some, such as a living complex in the Holly neighborhood and the midcentury-styled Starlight Village in Leander, reference specific historic points in modernist art and architecture. Others—notably Casa Marrakesh, also in East Austin— interpret architecture of different styles and places through a modernist lens.

Most of the tour homes embrace the importance of indoor-outdoor flow and transition, a modernist tradition; MJ Neal Architect’s renovation of a home by beloved midcentury architect/builder A.J. Stenger, is a thrilling example of that bent as well as a nod to the city’s history. There’s also an emphasis on reuse and reinvention present—as in the case of the River Ranch Remodel, which takes a contemporary pass at the 1950s-70s ranch house, an outgrowth of modernism that was especially popular stateside.

Regardless of how they manifest the modernist ethos, all of the participating homes evidence the value of understatement, with clean lines, unfussy details, and large, open spaces.

Below are a few peeks of what tour participants can anticipate. Since this year’s after-party takes place at Starlight Village—the brand-new development in Leander that features all midcentury-style homes and community facilities, let’s start there.

Loop

Loop

Starlight Village, Leander, Texas

Architecture: Woodhill Studios

Number of Bedrooms: 3

Number of Bathrooms: 2.5

Approximate Square Footage: 2,007

Year built: 2017

Spaces and Faces

Dror Baldinger, AIA

Rollingwood

Architecture: Matt Fajkus Architecture

Builder: Brodie Builders

Interior Designer (Stage 1): Joel Mozersky

Interior Designer (Stage 2): Gingerwood

Landscape Designer: Open Envelope Studio

Number of Bedrooms: 4

Number of Bathrooms: 5

Approximate Square Footage: 4,849

Year built: 2016

Holly

Architect: Glen Chappell

Builder: ESS Design+Build

Number of Bedrooms: 5

Number of Bathrooms: 3.5

Approximate Square Footage: 2,104

Year built: 2016

Andrea Calo

Andrea Calo

Casa Marrakech, Blackshear-Prospect Hill

Architect: Bercy Chen Studio

Number of Bedrooms: 2

Number of Bathrooms: 2

Approximate Square Footage: 2,100

Year built: 2017

Adam Dubich

Adam Dubich

East MLK

Architect: Kipp Flores

Builder: Thurman Homes

Interiors: Texas Staged Homes, CC Studio

Number of Bedrooms: 3

Number of Bathrooms: 2.5

Approximate Square Footage: 1,730

Year built: 2019

Modern Architecture + Design Society

Modern Architecture + Design Society

North Loop

Builder: Newcastle Homes

Number of Bedrooms: 2

Number of Bathrooms: 2

Approximate Square Footage: 944

Year built: 2018

Alan Barley, AIA

Alan Barley, AIA

Tarrytown

Architect: Barley|Pfeiffer Architecture

Builder: Ray Tonjes

Number of Bedrooms: 2

Number of Bathrooms: 2.5

Approximate Square Footage: 2,428

Year built: 1960s, renovated 2017

Tre Dunham, Fine Focus Photography

Tre Dunham, Fine Focus Photography

Wild Basin Highlands

Architect: Cornerstone Architects

Builder: Trey Smith

Interior design: Bob Wetmore AIA, RID

Number of Bedrooms: 3

Number of Bathrooms: 4

Approximate Square Footage: 3,763

Year built: 2016

Leonid Furmansky

Leonid Furmansky

Zilker

Architect: Derrington Design Studios

Builder: Shelter Home Building

Number of Bedrooms: 4

Number of Bathrooms: 3.5

Approximate Square Footage: 2,371

Year built: 2018

Meredith Tankersley courtesy of DEN Property Group

Meredith Tankersley courtesy of DEN Property Group

Barton Hills

Architect: MJ Neal

Number of Bedrooms: 3

Number of Bathrooms: 3

Approximate Square Footage: 2,250

Year built: late 1950’s-early 1960’s

Renovation: 2017

Jonathan Dean

Jonathan Dean

Zilker

Design/developer: Joseph Design/Build

Interior design: Slic Design

Number of Bedrooms: 3

Number of Bathrooms: 3.5

Approximate Square Footage: 2,219

Year built: 2018

Travis Baker, Twist Tours

Travis Baker, Twist Tours

Central East Austin

Architect: Chase Dane

Builder: Verde Custom Builders

Number of Bedrooms: 3

Number of Bathrooms: 2.5

Approximate Square Footage: 2,450

Year built: 2018

Tre Dunham, Fine Focus Photography

Tre Dunham, Fine Focus Photography

North Cat Mountain

Architect: Cornerstone

Interior design: Wheelhouse Design

Number of Bedrooms: 5

Number of Bathrooms: 5

Approximate Square Footage: 4,289

Year built: 2018