There is an air of tranquility about this Texan home that surrounds you as soon as you walk through its steel-arched door, with its enviable position close to the state's Lake Austin and its idyllic waterside views in one direction and downtown Austin and the sprawl of the University of Texas campus in the other.
The interior designer on this new build, Vanessa Alexander of Alexander Design, says her clients wanted a 'fresh and edited language' to balance its Spanish Revival architecture, the work of the classicist San Antonio-based architect Michael G Imber.
'There are a lot of new builds in Austin; it's a growing community,' says Vanessa, 'and the clients wanted a more warm and softly contemporized house.
'We joined Michael on the project early on; there was already a plan of how the house would sit on the land, but we were able to work with Michael and his team to bring a simplified, holistic perspective, which reflected the owners' preference for a more relaxed lifestyle,' says Vanessa. The house had a Spanish Revival reference, but they knew she could make it feel 'lighter on its feet'.
This approach appealed to its owners, whom Vanessa describes as 'elegant, well-traveled, unostentatious people'. She adds: 'While they would live in a large, grand home, they didn't want to scream about it; they wanted comfort, livability, beauty and subtlety – and in an effortless way.'
Vanessa referenced the historic masseria and farmhouses of Puglia for inspiration. 'They are simple in so many ways, yet they are so hearty and full of detail.'
And this detail is evident from the moment you walk into the high-ceilinged foyer, which feels grand, yet intimate. 'You get the feeling that there's a bigger room beyond it,' says Vanessa. And there is – the heart of this easy-to-live-in home – the formal sitting room or 'great room' as Vanessa refers to it.
'It's not terribly formal though, thanks to the way it connects to other spaces.' These connections are a huge success. To the left of the chimney breast, you can see through to the kitchen, while there's a glimpse of the dining room behind it. Stone stairs lead to two children's bedrooms and a guest suite, as well as a 'common hang-out room'.
Back downstairs and a courtyard separates the communal spaces from a guest bedroom, the main suite, and his and hers offices. Yet more spaces wait to be discovered, with a huge outdoor room under a reclaimed oak roof ('with the Texas heat comes thunderstorms in summer,' says Vanessa) housing a kitchen, living and dining area, with an outdoor pool beyond, offering amazing views.
Using limited but well-considered materials and colors have unified this open-plan home. It's all very consistent: if a stone has been used on one floor, then it has been used multiple times; the plasterwork is all the same color while the wood used for beams and doors is the same reclaimed oak.
'We wanted to let the character of these materials shine through and create a natural rhythm,' says Vanessa. 'If something had a crack or hole, we didn't fill it, we left it in its true, authentic sense.'
Authentic is a word that Vanessa keeps coming back to. 'We pared back the design to its very essence and then picked a small number of materials focusing on them being natural and beautifully made, really paying attention to the details,' she says.
'It's a difficult thing to nail, that feeling of timelessness and originality in a new build. We kept on refining, right down to the smallest touch, like getting the color of the grout just right, but if we'd had one too many archways or curves or twists, then we would have ended up in another place.'
The place this home has ended up in is very special. 'Yes, we delivered a turnkey project,' says Vanessa, 'but my goal when designing isn't for someone to walk in and know it's a "Vanessa Alexander house". It needs to feel like it's the clients' home, that they can inhabit it in a genuine way that reflects their tastes.'
