Hyde Park Renovation... Our new roof!

We wanted a metal roof, but didn't want a modern metal roof that didn't match the era of the home. and... voila - our new roof. Interlocking diamond shaped metal tiles. A perfect match with the 1930s architecture.

We have our brilliant builders Spaller + Glover to thank for the suggestion and sourcing.

Hyde Park Renovation... Framing it up

Feels good to see it start to look more like a house again. My brilliant builders Spaller + Glover created this cathredal-esque hallway leading to an iron and glass custom window at the end to allow for more natural light and (of course) a little more glamor.

Future kitchen. (remember, used to be the bathroom) That door leads out to a courtyard.

This is the main living area... with high high ceilings. It's a small house, but won't feel that way thanks to all of the high ceilings.

Hyde Park - Quintessential Cottage on the Avenue Streets

Take a look at this darling vintage 1940s Austin home on an oversized lot in picturesque Hyde Park neighborhood. Just over 1200 square feet, the house is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, with an extra flex room that could be used as a studio, study, or even a nursery. Excellent proximity Close to University of Texas and north Austin hot spots, restaurants, coffee shops, and shopping.

Lovely vintage tile in the bath!

Kitchen has copper sink and wall mounted faucets - lots of character and charm.

Great back yard with custom fence... picture yourself here. !

5014 Avenue F - currently listed at $313,500.

Click here for virtual tour.

1950s Midcentury Austin Home for Sale - 78745 and close to everything!

It's the quintessential 1950s south Austin house... with all the midcentury charm and curb appeal you dream of nestled on a tree-lined street in zip code 78745. Location location location... this Austin home is just MINUTES from everything south Austin, 78704, SoCo and South Lamar entertainment and shopping.

The owners renovated for themselves and hate to leave. The kitchen was renovated down to the studs and includes all new 42" cabinets, subway tile backsplash, center island, granite counters, pendant lights, and even a wine refrigerator.

Wide open, light, and bright... perfect room for entertaining. Owners put over $22,000 in renovation and electrical upgrades including a tankless water heater.

Photo of the renovated hall bathroom. This property is 1126 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths. The owners have maximized storage throughout the house and also have an exterior utility room and secondary storage building.

Excellent wood deck for summer barbecues.

Listed at $242,500 - a real south Austin gem!

Hyde Park Home Renovations...part deux

This was scary... all of that wood outside? That is my HOUSE. The demolition has been "a little" more invasive than I had imagined. I remember the time I naively asked my builder if we could live in the house during the renovations. I don't know how she managed to control herself from laughing. Before - master bedroom & closet area...

and post demolition... before bathroom...

Post demo - no more bathroom and the site of my future kitchen! Check out the ceilings... sky high. The ceilings are higher than I expected, but I love them. before... living and dining. (that's my 5 year old... practicing her best moves in the wide open spaces of the empty house)

and post demo.... no more walls or ceilings. Glad we took pictures. !

Hyde Park Renovations... progress and more progress

Phew... time goes by quick.

Family is busy... work is busy... alas... my sweet little blog has been neglected. However, I have a few extra minutes this afternoon... so time for some updates.

The renovations of our Hyde Park home continue to progress quickly.

Building permits posted to the front door!

This guy showed up one morning and starting hacking away at my house... I was so excited to see work begin that I pulled out the camera. I am sure he thought I was crazy. Photo of the horrible fountain in the front yard... (the one where I could only envision my 3 year old face down) ... it's now history!

This is the new foundation going in... all this for an extra 300 square feet. yeesh.

Much to my neighbors' horror... a giant dumpster and port-a-potty in the front yard. Yikes. We have had a few comments... and all I can say is... sorry... they are working as fast as they can to get it taken away!

Before pics.

More before pics. Oddly enough... this 1300 square foot house had TWO air conditioning units, one the size of a jet engine... and still they had window units inside the house. Apparently these people (or their crop of plants) needed to keep very, very cool. Rumor has it that our house was the neighborhood "grow house" at one time during it's 75 year history.

Next up - the demo pics.

Cromwell Hill - Old Enfield Vintage Austin Luxury Home

I think we have all been waiting patiently for some new listing inventory here in the Austin market. Today, this one came up... a vintage 1932 old Enfield Austin home, located on Cromwell Hill .... she oozeth over with charm. All sides brick, this sweet Austin home sits on more than a third of an acre in the Enflield subdivison, zip code 78703, exemplary elementary school Casis. The home is 2403 square feet with 2 bedrooms, 2 full baths, 3 living areas and 2 dining areas.

Delightful peri0d architecture and design details like arched doorways, wood trim... love this drippy glass chandelier.

...built ins.

Kitchen is modest - but it screams "Come, come sit down and enjoy some lemonade and fresh baked cookies with me... ". Sigh... times forgotten.

The master bedroom...

Gleaming vintage tub and large hex tile in the bath. ! I am always a push over for pink vintage bathrooms. I can't help it.

Master dressing area with attached green vintage bath. I almost like the green one better than the pink one.

...and also... not shown... a large swimming pool outside.

Listing courtesy of Gottesman Residential.

Giggle-Room - Austin Interior Designer of Childrens Rooms and More

Lieve Saether is the Austin based designer behind Giggle-room. She takes a fresh, pragmatic approach to designing children's room... no icky sticky pink tulle and Disney princess themes here. Only cool, inspiring, inviting rooms that truly capture the child's individuality and spirit. What child wouldn't want to call this home?

Unique color combinations and practical furniture selections that show off this little girl's most prized possessions while keeping books and artwork neatly tucked away.

A display of sweet wooden birdhouses with colorful birds to greet baby every morning and a dangling Moorish-style light fixture... an unexpected yet lovely element in a nursery.

THIS is my favorite. I have always wanted to incorporate a world map into my home but I could never figure out quite how to do it other than tacking it up with thumb tacks. ! I love this.

Girls really go for purple... but most grown ups don't. However, this shade of aubergine is welcome in my home... especially with the rest of the room's accents in turquoise, blues, and brown.

The wall on the left reads "Sparkle & Spin" in gold glitter against the alabaster wall. So chic yet so FUN.

Giggle-room offers their clients everything from a quick fix to full redesign and her services are extremely affordable. ...and of course, Lieve also does grown up rooms too. !

giggle-room.com

Introducing Our New Hyde Park Renovation Project

Where did I leave off? For the past 3 months my husband and I have been working on acquiring this little house in Hyde Park, one of Austin's oldest and most historic neighborhoods. Unfortunately, this particular real estate saga was high on drama and incredibly time consuming... not to mention my kids, my husband, my day-to-day real estate clients, and, oh right... the holidays...sigh. Needless to say, my blog was neglected.


I was out for a run one September morning in Hyde Park and I noticed that this little house - which I had jogged past MANY times... had a "For Sale" sign posted out front. This house, I should mention, has had a "For Sale By Owner" sign posted for probably over a year...but the sellers wanted an unreasonable amount of money given the property's compromised condition.

Turned out that the house was up for foreclosure and the sellers were now trying to do a short sale. My husband and I immediately wrote up an offer (for what we thought was market value) and submitted it. Apparently in the nick of time, saving the house from foreclosure. (Interesting to note - a bank cannot foreclose on a house if there is a written offer to purchase...no matter what the purchase price)

Now, 4 months later, and much drama... it's all ours. ! We have big plans for the house that we will renovate for ourselves to live in - hopefully for many years to come. The renovations will begin next month - pending city of Austin building permits. The house is actually located in a historical preservation district... which presents many fun hoops to jump through. Luckily, we have a great builder, Urban Nature, Inc. to help us through the process.

I am looking forward to telling the story of our renovation project this year as it progresses, along with keeping everyone informed of Austin things to do, to see, and of course... Austin real estate.

Happy 2011.