We learned a lot from working with Geoff and Simone Leavenworth.
They had clear ideas about what their new house should be like: energy-efficient, reminiscent of buildings they were drawn to from San Miguel, but of this place, made of materials from here, specific to their particular piece of land in the hills of southwest Austin.
We all knew that in lieu of not building at all, the most sustainable approach to new construction is to keep the conditioned spaces small, and position the house in a way to take advantage of natural conditions: shade, breezes, view. The site perimeter was ringed with low cedar trees and brush with a clearing in the center, and its general topography was high enough to capture a view of the far shore of the lake from a second story prospect. So the house design is informed by these existing conditions—wrapping around the clearing, its walls form two sides of an enclosed courtyard, and the second story rooms open onto a terrace where you see over the cedars to the hills beyond.
As people who love to cook, and love to share their cooking with others, they needed a working and social kitchen—it became the central space of the house—interior and exterior spaces radiate out from it. The entry covered porch doubles as an outdoor great room, with space to grill, prep, eat and lounge. And the only problem with the upper terrace is convincing their friends to come back downstairs when dinner is ready!
If you’ve ever eaten with them, you might not believe this. Knowing the Leavenworths means knowing what it’s like to eat fresh-baked bread infused with rosemary from their garden, just out of the oven. If you’re their neighbor, it means warm cinnamon rolls on a Sunday morning. And if you’re their architect, it means you now have a lump of dough, at the ready, in your refrigerator at all times, in case someone stops by for a visit.
