It can be said that a historic property is only as very good as its bones, but in many cases, it requires a little digging to obtain them. This sort of was the scenario for Carrie and Robert Hicks, who identified their dream property in the kind of a Tudor-impressed household built in 1926 in just one of Austin’s oldest neighborhoods.
“We initial fell in really like with the site and the excellent huge front lawn. It was just a actually excellent space,” remembers Carrie, an inside designer who minimize her tooth in New York and West Hollywood prior to settling down in Texas. The household experienced been as a result of numerous palms in the just about hundred several years ahead of the few, who have a few young little ones, took possession in 2015. Levels upon levels of misguided renovations experienced taken their toll. “The bones were being there, and the framework was there, so the strategy was to convey in Paul to help you save the historic 1926 residence,” she carries on, referring to architect Paul Lamb, who was in charge of the rework.
But perhaps Lamb sums it up best himself: “You know that tale about inheriting grandpa’s axe?” He inquires in his gentle Texan twang. “First, the cope with provides out, and he replaces the manage. Then, a pair of years later on the head offers out, so he replaces the head. But it is nevertheless grandpa’s axe.”
Regardless of the decades of successive remodels, they were being determined to preserve the home’s original charm and also channel a contemporary feel. “What actually caught my notice was that they liked the really feel of this Tudor house, but Carrie’s beloved architect is Mies van der Rohe,” Lamb points out of discussions they had in the early phases of the design and style course of action. His solution was to preserve the existing framework and create a Mies van der Rohe–inspired addition. They decided on a minimum steel and glass quantity that sits atop brick columns and protrudes from the back façade. “I adore that kind of obstacle,” Lamb claims, “trying to make opposites converse to each individual other.”
Inside, the architect opened up what he describes as a “rat’s nest of rooms,” to develop a obviously flowing flooring prepare centered around a grand entranceway, which, he states, references the cleanse lines of Modernist villas. From there, the entryway sales opportunities to the dining room, in which Carrie combined up to date parts with eighties icons, like a Memphis-era Ultrafragola mirror by Ettore Sottsass, which appears to be like in excess of an asymmetrical Collection Particulière dining table, Rose Uniacke Hoof console tables (whose legs resembled horses’ hooves), beige-toned Puffball sconces by Faye Toogood, and a vintage crystal chandelier.
“I seriously desired the dwelling to have a blend of art, style, and actual daily life,” she suggests of her mission for the house. “But we have three children, a dog, and a busy existence, so we needed the space to be usable but nonetheless pleasurable.” In the 1st floor residing space, that intended pairing a plush custom made sofa—perfect for family members game nights—with eye-catching vintage items, like a shiny and streamlined Marc Newson Orgone chair from the ’90s and a midcentury wooden armchair by Guillerme et Chambron. Covetable artwork by Ed Ruscha—whose turmeric-coloured portray hangs earlier mentioned the hearth—and get the job done by Dutch photographer Hendrik Kerstens was also included to the combine.
