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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.
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Starlight Village, Leander, Texas
Architecture: Woodhill Studios
Number of Bedrooms: 3
Number of Bathrooms: 2.5
Approximate Square Footage: 2,007
Year built: 2017
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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
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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
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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
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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
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North Loop
Builder: Newcastle Homes
Number of Bedrooms: 2
Number of Bathrooms: 2
Approximate Square Footage: 944
Year built: 2018
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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