Ever wonder what a house costs in one of the small towns outside of Austin? Maybe you live in Austin and have gotten priced out because of the ever increasing home prices in town, or maybe you want to move to Austin but can’t quite afford to buy. No matter what the case is you are in luck, because there are several small towns less than an hour from Austin that are equal parts affordable and charming.

Austin may be the capital of Texas, but it’s always been a bit of a little brother to its bigger, more sophisticated siblings Dallas and Houston. However as the eye and envy of the nation has turned to the city that likes to keep things weird Austin has decided it is time to grow up. That means a lot of things are changing for the good or the bad, but in my opinion the Hermes store opening on South Congress is a good cultural canary in the coal mine as to where things are going. With businesses and billionaires like Tesla adopting the city as their new home, a new Austin is getting ready to welcome them with open arms. Enter the Four Seasons Private Residences Austin.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been three weeks since we got back from Portugal, just a tad longer than the time we spent there. This is our second trip to Portugal and to say that I’m smitten is an understatement. The first time we went we covered pretty much the whole country, and while it was fantastic in many ways it was a lot of moving around. This time we wanted to slow down and get to know one area more intimately, namely Portugals southern coastline, the Algarve. While the Algarve is relatively unknown to most American, that’s definitely not the case for europeans. In fact it has a bit of a bad reputation for being a cheap all inclusive getaway for Brit’s and others looking for a bit of sunshine and beach time. Think of it as the Cancun of Europe. But like Cancun there is much more than just the resorts (shout out to Merida) in fact in the Algarve they are much less apparent and prevalent than in Cancun.

John Watson may be one of Austin’s least famous and most accomplished architects. The mere fact that he studied under Frank Lloyd Wright in the 50’s should have been enough to keep him forefront in the Austin architecture scene, but much like the style of houses he built he decided to do things his own way. I’ve featured some of his works from the late 70’s on my website before and they are some of the most amazing examples of organic architecture I’ve ever seen. Since sharing I’ve had numerous inquiries from folks that knew Mr. Watson but have lost touch with him over the years. I even had an opportunity to speak with him briefly on the phone once. He is a deeply private man, and has somehow managed to do one of the most elusive things in architecture; design lucrative projects in the exact unique style he wants to do, all while staying completely off the radar.

The concept of indoor-outdoor flow is foundational to residential modernism. Iconic architects such as Richard Neutra took advantage of the International style’s minimalism to create spaces that incorporate and emphasize their surroundings and contribute to the health of residents with natural ventilation, natural light, and the ability to enjoy large parts of home life in the fresh outdoor air. But what happens to that vision when, as is currently the case, the relative health of indoor and outdoor spaces is part of daily conversation, and the transition between them is qualified, negotiated, and usually far from seamless?

Let’s say, for the sake of argument (and it would be a lively one), that residential-scale modernism first took hold of this country in California. Yes, there’s Frank Lloyd Wright’s midwestern reign, along with certain claims for the region that could be made by Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House in Illinois.

But to really capture the American imagination, modernism had to capitalize on the American dream—a dream that invariably lies to the west. As with many things, Southern California proved the best place to turn aspirational ideas about living and lifestyles (swimming pools, movie stars) into mass-produced realities (swimming pools, wet bars), offering home buyers a reasonable facsimile of stylish, easy living and preserving their au courant bona fides.

Today is the official first day of summer, which means it’s only going to get hotter here in Austin. A lot of my clients that are moving to Austin from cooler states ask me how the summers are here, and I never sugar coat it. It’s hot. Very hot. You’re going to sweat a lot, and your’e going to need to cool down.

Luckily there are two very good solutions to both those problems. Swimming, and deliciously refreshing summer time drinks. Over the years I’ve shared a lot of my favorites on my newsletter so I’ve decided to do a big round up here of how to survive a summer in Austin.

Perhaps one of the most ironic parts about our house is that the focus from the very beginning has been the inner courtyard, and yet somehow it has been the last thing to be finished.

Because of budget reasons the pool and all our landscaping for the back yard didn’t get completed with the house. That doesn’t mean that we weren’t planning ahead though. Our guest house is at the exact level as the main house, which meant until now it has been sitting awkwardly above grade. The pool that we added a year ago was also at the same level, meaning it too stuck above grade making it look like an above ground pool. There were also stub outs for gas and electric to go to the back yard.

I have a confession to make, I’ve been holding out on you. It’s partly because I’m lazy, and partly because I’ve wanted to keep it all to myself. It’s time to come clean though and introduce you to House of St. Clair. I’m not a particularly fashionable guy, but I’ve always thought that menswear is feeling fairly stagnant these days. That’s exactly what got me so excited about HOSC. They take deep inspiration from the past (like their Detroit influenced fall winter collection) but execute everything with a contemporary twist.