Austin, Texas · New build · 2025

Residence No. 14

Residence No. 14 from directly above at dusk: two flat concrete roof slabs, the pool behind the house, live oaks and the crushed-limestone drive.

The brief

From the first line to the last key: one house, drawn and built by the same hands.

Site
Hill Country ridge, live oaks and limestone
Footprint
Two storeys, the upper volume stepped back
Structure
Coursed limestone, board-formed concrete slabs, steel
Duration
17 months, ground to handover
Residence No. 14 at blue hour: two storeys of honey limestone under flat board-formed concrete slabs, the rooms lit from inside.

The house

Two slabs, one long wall of stone.

The house is two flat concrete roofs over a long wall of honey limestone, the smaller upper volume set back so the lower slab reads as one line across the ridge.

Every opening is a single sheet of glass in a slender black steel frame. Nothing is divided that did not need to be.

The living room in the morning: the limestone fireplace wall, a green velvet sofa and cognac leather chairs on a rust wool rug.

The room

The stone comes inside and becomes the hearth.

The same limestone runs through the glass and becomes the fireplace wall, full height, with a basalt bench along its foot.

The room is furnished to be lived in: velvet, leather, wool and books, under a ceiling of oak boards.

The kitchen at five in the afternoon: a marble island, three leather stools and the glass wall to the pool terrace.

The drawing

What was drawn was built, to the inch.

The kitchen was resolved on sheet A-301 before a stone was laid: the island, the sliding panels, the line of the terrace beyond.

Our architects and our builders sat at the same table for it, which is the whole point of the practice.

Gallery

Residence No. 14 at blue hour: two storeys of honey limestone under flat board-formed concrete slabs, the rooms lit from inside.
The house at blue hour
The living room in the morning: the limestone fireplace wall, a green velvet sofa and cognac leather chairs on a rust wool rug.
Living room, eight in the morning
The kitchen at five in the afternoon: a marble island, three leather stools and the glass wall to the pool terrace.
Kitchen, five in the afternoon
The pool at dusk, perfectly still, mirroring the lit rooms of the house.
The pool at dusk
Residence No. 14 from directly above at dusk: two flat concrete roof slabs, the pool behind the house, live oaks and the crushed-limestone drive.
The site from above

Next project

A two-storey house of limestone, cedar and glass at dusk, every room lit, a fire pit burning on the stone terrace.

Ridgeline House

Tumalo, Oregon · New build · 2025

Another difficult site?

Two hours on your land, with the architect who would run the job.

Let's talk