BlantonDesignBlog.com

Stuart Sampley is a great local architect who happens to live down the street. I drive past his gorgeous green craftsman home pretty much every day when I am heading north. Baird and I always comment on it and point it out to friends visiting or are new to the area as a real example of Bouldin Creek architecture (whatever that is!) because it is a classic craftsman home with hip, modern landscaping and an amazing addition on the rear that includes his office. When I describe Stuart’s style in a nutshell, I say that it is “craftsman with a slightly modern flare”. He apparently pitches the roof line a little steeper and adds clean, contemporary elements throughout, while keeping the charm that everyone loves in a craftsman home. That’s not all Sampley does, of course, it’s just what I have mostly been exposed to.

Now, after admiring his home for the last 5 years on my drive downtown, I have finally had the opportunity to work in two of his latest projects. The first was actually a surprise to me, as I didn’t know he was involved until a week or so after the job was complete. This is the gorgeous Monte Castillo Parkway home built by Michael Alwan of RedBud Custom Homes. I have just updated my website with this job listed first under “Projects”. Michael is a real out of the box thinker and stays passionately true to his vision. He built this home in the middle of several “Texas Tuscan” around the corner from The Oasis, as not to follow sheep-like in the pattern of the other builders who are under the impression that this is what the buyer expects and wants in this location. I suppose that is yet to be determined as the houses finish construction and begin to sell! I knew when I entered this house it was something special - and yes, maybe not perfect for everyone - but you can feel the quality, and even though it is all new construction it seems to have a sense of history: perhaps this is where Sampley left his mark.

Monte Castillo Parkway

Monte Castillo Parkway living room

About a week or so after I completed staging the Monte Castillo house, I noticed a new Sampley house come on the market in the neighborhood. It is represented by Rob Albertson with Austin Fine Properties who coincidentally is also a Bouldin Creek resident.

I decided to contact him right away since the newly constructed house was not staged yet. Suprisingly, he told me that none other than Stuart Sampley had given him my information as a contact for staging this home on Johanna, as I had just done another one of his projects with Red Bud Custom Homes.  This is when I officially made the connection to the Monte Castillo house and how it all came together.  Aren’t referrals wonderful?

The Johanna house was a dream, as I can get away with a little more design risk in Bouldin than I can in other parts of town. People who live here are generally pretty progressive thinkers and won’t be deterred by a bright red modern table and some funky art in a craftsman entry.

Johanna Exterior

Johanna Entry

Johanna family room

Artwork in this house is graciously provided by Cheryl Finfrock, Rebecca Bennett & Andrew Anderson.

More of these photos are available in my opening slideshow as well as on Rob and Stuart’s sites I reference above. I look forward to working on more amazing projects with my fabulous neighbors!

We recently completed a job for Jason Jackson in South Austin, who has listed this great remodel with Brent Fannin of Turner Residential. I have done several listings with the folks at Turner Residential and have always been a fan of not only the homes they build, but the homes they represent on the market!

Jason remodeled this mid-century home that had great bones but just needed a facelift. It has a dramatic entry, huge back yard and is on a nice, quiet street. He used the 12 x 24 tile vertically in the bathrooms for an even more modern feeling.  At $214K it seems like an amazing starter home.  This was a fun and easy job. Original art by Rebecca Bennett, Kevin Greer & Jeffrey Swanson.

Entry to Blarwood

Blarwood living, dining & kitchen

Blarwood bathroom with vertical tile

Blarwood master bedroom

We had some fun working with Ruth Vela with Avenue One this summer. One house in Belterra needed a few things shifted around inside to make some sense of the rooms that a bachelor was repurposing to fit his needs. There was no budget to bring in extra furniture so we had to work with what was already in the house. We formalized the dining area, rehung some art, relocated some furniture from crowded rooms into empty ones and made the music room a real destination. Ruth really tackled this job with all she had and certainly wasn’t afraid to roll her sleeves up and get dirty! I hope she gets a quick sale out of this one!

Bolton Dining Room

Bolton Music Room

The next week Ruth had a tenant move out of another listing and we were able to bring in almost a full house worth of furniture to stage it. The master bedroom is enormous but the other 3 bedrooms are pretty small, so it was better to showcase 2 out of 3 of those rooms with furnishings so potential buyers can actually visualize what will actually fit. Sometimes people see small bedrooms and assume you can’t even get a bed in there, however we always use queen size beds to illustrate that you can fit normal furniture in these rooms. The intention here of course is to alleviate any doubt in the buyer’s mind.

Madison master bedroom AFTER

Madison living room, AFTER

Madison living to kitchen AFTER

Madison extra bedroom

Allison Cartwright with Twist Tours took all these after photos as well as most of the ones on my site! I love her clear, crisp images with wide lens that showcase the space without distortion. Just gorgeous!

I am not sure if my listings have just been priced right or if it is just the busy summer season that is responsible for all my houses selling so quickly! Do I dare take the credit? My last five listings have all sold between 4 hours and 3 weeks - one of these listings is the Rockcliff house, listed with Kathleen Bucher for $3.5 million on Lake Austin. It is not uncommon for homes in this range to sit and wait for the right and qualified buyer for months or even years, so this quick sale was truly extraordinary! I did the consultation on the main home and provided a rug for the formal living room and complete furnishings for the guest quarters. Here are some of the photos below:

Rockcliff Exterior

Rockcliff Formal Living Room

Hall from main home to guest wing

Rockcliff guest wing

Rockcliff guest wing kitchen

The house on Bunny Run listed with Megan Gattis also sold for over asking in the first week with multiple offers! I was able to quickly move the furnishings out and into a new listing with Tammy Young in Hyde Park. This is a darling little cottage/bungalow with loads of charm. I just changed the dining room furniture out from the larger scaled Bunny Run table to a neat little farm table I got at The Khazana and metal farm chairs from Four Hands Home. I love the eclectic set up in this home.

Avenue F Living/Dining room

Reading area in Avenue F

You walk into the middle of the living room with the fireplace on the right and slightly larger living area on the left. I thought the fireplace made a cozy and intimate area to watch TV, read or sit by the fire. If you are sitting on the couch or side chair you can still enjoy the TV and fireplace as all face generally in that direction but the reading chairs could be reversed for a larger conversation area when entertaining. Swivel chairs would be ideal for this spot but I didn’t have any available at the time of this installation! The Moroccan light fixture over the dining table was a lovely surprise: I love the way it illuminates the whole area with dappled light from the perforated metal. Gorgeous!

Admittedly I do not specialize in traditional decor but occasionally enjoy delving into this arena. My clients with The High Road property last summer (Steve Keith - builder and Lisa-Marie Contaldi with Intero Real Estate) contacted me again for their new project in Tarrytown. A contemporary craftsman with lots of great details and the big dream kitchen everyone is looking for these days. Every bedroom has its own bathroom and it even has a 3rd floor/rooftop kitchen nestled in the giant trees that surround the home. The clients opted for just the downstairs staging to warm up the space but wanted to keep it leaning towards the contemporary side as far as decor. I think I found a pretty good middle ground. The entire first floor has TONS of open shelving that of course needs to be addressed, so I carefully selected a mix of books, vases, sculpture and other items that filled in the space without overwhelming it.

Stamford Living Room

Stamford Dining Room

Stamford Kitchen

I also did a fun job with Megan Gattis at Avenue One for her clients on Bunny Run. As if the name of the street wasn’t charming enough, the house is a wonderful little cottage surrounded by some amazing plant and tree filled grounds that truly feel like you are exploring The Secret Garden. With wall to wall seagrass carpeting and plantation shutters it was easy for me to find the design scheme in “Tommy Bahama meets Martha Stewart.”

Bunny Run Living Room

Bunny Run Living Room 2

Bunny Run Entry & Dining

Bunny Run breakfast room

Bunny Run bedroom

The photos from the home on Rockcliff Drive should be posted any day now, so stay tuned for that - and thanks for reading!