Just in case you didn't get my newsletter, I thought I would share with you this great opportunity to check out some homes for sale in Agave.
Ok, it's not really a home tour per say, but there will be at least two open houses on Saturday, and three on Sunday. That means it's a great time to come look at some modern homes.
5413 Agatha Cir : Sat 1-3, Sun 11-2
7305 Ava : Sat 2-4, Sun 1-5
5344 Sendero Hils : Sun 1-4
If you have been following me for a while, by now you have surely heard me rave about Agave. If you are new here, let me summarize. Agave truly is Austin's only modern neighborhood. Sure there are pockets of modern homes in other parts of the city, but here you can walk for blocks and only see modern homes. In 50 years people will look at Agave like we do Eichler neighborhoods now. The homes are all amazing, architect designed, and best of all affordable. Located just 6 miles from downtown, or even better a short, easy (no traffic) 10 min drive to all the good stuff on the east side.
Read MoreIt's been such a crazy busy summer between work and travel that, despite best intentions, it's been a long, long time since we threw a Sunday Sips party at my place.
That's about to change.
Details are still working themselves out, but I can tell you three important things.
As you may know by now, my wife and I are venturing down the path of building a new home. It's been a dream of mine for a long time now to design and build a home custom tailored to my life. Of course a big part of achieving that goal includes finding the right architect.
When choosing an architect the question isn't "Who is the best architect in Austin", rather it should be "Who is the best architect in Austin for me?". Sure, on the most fundamental level you need to find someone with talent, who has a aesthetic that is similar to yours. I've compiled a short list of some of the most talented (in my opinion) modern architects in Austin that you can check out here.
Read MoreIf there is one thing Austin loves, it's a good homes tour, and while it's hard to believe a year has gone by already, the AIA Austin homes tour is back. As always the AIA manages to round up an impressive list of local starchitects, and this year you'll be able to gawk at works by Dick Clark and Michael Hsu among others. While I'm sure all of them are worth checking out, here is a preview of the homes I'm most interested in seeing.
Read MoreEvery year Docomomo (Documentation and Conservation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the Modern Movement) has a national tour day. Our local chapter Mid Tex Mod is in charge of ours and tomorrow they are having a tour based around Modern Texas architect Milton Ryan. The tour is going to be in San Antonio where Ryan did the majority of his work, and will feature 3 of his commissions. It's a great opportunity to get out of town and skip the ACL madness and learn a little more about the rich architectural history Texas has.
More info, from Mid Tex Mod:
Read MoreIf you are looking for a modern home at an affordable price, it's hard to beat Agave. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of turn over out there, so that means inventory can be a bit limited, until now. If y'all remember, there are lots of vacant lots out at Agave. The original developer has financial issues, so those lot have been held by the bank until recently. Now a new developer has stepped up and is getting ready to break ground on a new round of homes. The first 6 should begin construction in the next month or so, and depending on sales hopefully there will be many more to follow. There are still nearly 200 empty lots out there
Read MoreThe north/south corridor of Chicon street in East Austin has had it's ups and downs. Businesses like the now shuttered Rosewood Community Market and East Village Cafe looked like they would bring a new vibrancy to the area. While it's unfortunate to see they weren't able to make it, its refreshing to see a new group of business owners having their go at it.
Figure 8 coffee purveyors has now moved into the old East Village Cafe, and besides a complete interior renovation of the space, they've also brought with them some serious coffee expertise. The shop is run by Ryan Hall and Kathleen Carmichael formerly of Houndstooth and Cenote and features the ever so delicious Tweed Coffee roasted right here in Texas.
Read MoreAustin has a lot of great things going for it. It's an amazing town for music, it's making it's mark in the film world and it consistently gets recognition in the culinary world. One area where we are still working to gain a reputation is our art scene. The museums here, while good, pale in comparison to other cities our size.
Pop Austin is looking to change that though, and they are doing a damn good job at it. They have rounded up a list of Internationally renowned contemporary artists (seriously, check out this list), and they are bringing them to town.
Read MoreEarlier this week I featured 6806 Silvermine on my Austin Modern Homes blog, but I felt like the photos online didn't really do it justice so I snapped a few of my own. I still don't feel like the photos quite do it justice, but check it out and let me know what you think.
If you want to get a closer look, give me a call. I'd love to walk you through the home and tell you why I think it's so special. Have I mentioned it's priced at $375,000?
Read MoreAs summer wears on I've been doing more and more cooking at home. There is one recipe that has gotten the heaviest rotation however, and it's homemade ice-cream. I remember as a kid sitting around the ice cream maker in the summer making a fresh batch of homemade ice-cream. Now that I'm all grown up, I haven't been able to commit the time or energy, until now, mostly because this recipe takes almost zero time or energy. Don't be fooled though, it's incredibly delicious, versatile and addictive.
The basic recipe is from Nigella Law and goes like this.
Read MoreAhh the good ol' homes tour. People love nothing more than being able to pry into the secret lives of others and see how they live. There are modern home tours, traditional home tours, but one group has been sadly left out, until now. The weirdos.
The 2014 Austin Weird Homes Tour will give you a chance to sneak a peek into some of Austin's weirder homes, from dumpster homes to container homes to homes made of earthbags (whatever that is). Ohh, and you'll be giving to charity too, because 20% of all ticket sales goes to Caritas, and that's not weird at all.
Read MoreIt's hard to keep up with all the new coffee shops, restaurants and bars opening up on the east side. Luckily that's a problem I don't mind having. This weeks opening was Cuvée coffee on 6th.
I had Cuvée coffee on my first visit to Austin, and it's seen regular rotation in my house ever since. With that in mind I'm quite excited for them to have a great space in East Austin. The space itself has quite masculine build out with lots of dark steel in the space. It's capped of by a few rows of Tom Dixon inspired hammered pendants. Speaking of hammered, like any good coffee shop in Austin, they've applied for an an alcohol permit and will have a nice row of beers on tap too.
Read MoreOk, let me just get this out there, Bill Murray is the best. Ever.
Also, I like meatballs. So you can imagine that when one of my favorite local BBQ joints has a screening of Bill Murray's 1979 classic Meatballs and an epic dinner that includes; Gouda Stuffed Smoked Meatballs, chili-garlic rapini, with roasted tomato vodka cream sauce and rigatoni for $12, I'll be there. The party starts at 8:30, and to make things even sweeter it's 4th Friday today and there happen to be a slew of other great things to do in the neighborhood before the show.
Read MoreHere's another little grand opening party that you're not going to want to miss, and this time you can't say I didn't warn you. Next Saturday August 23rd WORK will be celebrating their recent opening, and they want you to be there. So, what is WORK? Straight from the horses mouth:
WORK is a multi-disciplinary community designed to bring Austin a place where one can drink coffee, shop til your hearts content, participate in creative workshops, and get anything you can imagine designed as well as all of your digital needs met. WORK is Noah Marion Quality Goods, Hoiden Supply Company, WORK Coffee Co. and GOLDEN EAGLE CREATIVE.
Yep, that's a pretty solid line up that you aren't going to want to miss. You can check out their FB page for all the nitty gritty.
WORK : The Grand Opening event on Facebook.
Read MoreThe already good selection of modern home interior stores in Austin just got a little bit better with the addition of Blu Dot. Last night was their big grand opening party, but before the crowd arrived I had a chance to take a tour of the space and chat with founder John Christakos about Blu Dot and the store.
First, it should be noted that Blu Dot is different from West Elm or CB2 and other modern design stores in one very specific way. Everything at Blu Dot is designed in house and manufactured by Blu Dot. John, and co founder Maurice Blanks first formed the company in 1997 because they could see the need for good affordable modern furniture.
Read MoreIf you haven't ever visited Canopy in East Austin, this is your chance to redeem yourself. For those not familiar with Canopy, it's an old warehouse that got a thorough Michael Hsu makeover so it could become a creative art space. The first weekend of every month they have a free open house and studio tour called OPEN Canopy. This months OPEN Canopy is tonight August 1st from 6-9 and tomorrow August 2nd from 12-6. While there are loads of talented artists out there, my top picks to check out are below.
OPEN Canopy
August 1st 6-9 & August 2nd 12-6.
Read MoreOne of the first food trailer experiences I had in Austin was eating at East Side King at the Shangri-La. It was love at first bite. Since then East Austin has dropped from 3 East Side King trailers to just two. There was even a horrible moment where the trailer at the Liberty was the only one. Luckily shortly after Thai Kun opened up at the old Cheer Up Charlies location. When I heard that ESK was opening a trailer at the new Cheer Up Charlies location I was excited. Sure it's not the East side any more, but it's still walking distance.
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Looking for something to do this weekend? This Saturday my favorite neighborhood coffee shop / store Friends & Neighbors is having a Vintage Bazaar featuring clothes by Atelier Thibault and others. Between the already excellently curated shop inside and all the vendors for the pop up you are sure to find something amazing.
Not into shopping? No prob, just grab the latest issue of Frankie or Monocle and hang out in the shade sipping your drink of choice. What's not to love?
More info about the event on Facebook.
Read MoreAfter a few weeks of lingering projects, we've finally managed to wrap up most of the big things on our house. During the last week we made a big push and got some floating shelving with lighting installed in the kitchen, as well as some hanging Plumen lights for general lighting. I took a few minutes yesterday to take some photos of the (almost) finished project, and I thought it was a good time to share some before and after photos.
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