It's time for the 9th annual Austin Modern Home tour. It happens next weekend and it's one of my favorites (second to the AIA Home tour) because it focuses solely on modern homes. This year Bercy Chen Studio has not one, but two homes on the tour, their Tetra house pictured above and the home located on San Juan dr. There are some other great houses on the tour as well that are definitely worth checking out, but I'm especially excited about the Tetra house. You can get a sneak peek of it below...

2016 was a doozy of a year with plenty of ups and downs. Despite the bitter taste that certain political events had left in our mouths, my wife and I were intent on starting 2017 off on the right foot. When a few friends from Salt Lake City asked if we wanted to head to Panama for the new year we were all in. Beyond a few random facts about the Panama Canal, I knew almost nothing about the country. We ended up spending 7 days in Casco Viejo, the historic section of the city and 3 days drifting around the Pearl Islands. Here's a little recap for anyone curious or heading down that way.

As good as these photos are, they just don't do justice to how good our newest listing at Skout really is. Alterstudio is one of my favorite architects in Austin and the level of detail on this project is next level. First off I'm a complete sucker for any house with a courtyard and the U shape of this layout does a perfect job of splitting the private and public spaces up and connecting the whole house to the outdoors.

When it comes to barbecue Texas takes itself very seriously. Here barbecue is all about beef brisket and when it comes to brisket Franklins is king. I'm not here to dispute any of that, what I am here to do is to make a confession. I love ribs. Delicious, falling off the bone, smothered in barbecue sauce ribs. I'm not alone obviously and most of the well known barbecue places in town offer ribs as well, but if you are looking to avoid the lines and get some finger licking delicious smoked meats, there are some new kids in town to help you out. Meet J. Leonardi's Barbeque.