MANTLE DRIVE


Location: Austin, Texas
Completed: 2006
Design Team: Gary Furman, Philip Keil
Contractor: Crowell Builders
Landscape Design: Gardens
Interior Design: ABODE Fern Santini
Photographer: Paul Bardagjy

The entry sequence sets the tone for this house. Walking past a stone guesthouse, under an ipe arbor, one discovers a tranquil entry garden. The sounds of suburbia fade and are replaced by the trickle of water. Curved stone columns mark the path to the front door. Like the courtyard, the rest of the house gradually steps downhill with grade as one travels from public to private spaces. Rooms are gently delineated from one another allowing views and interaction between spaces. All public rooms open generously to outdoor rooms, past the pool, toward views. The details of the house are rendered in stone, wood and steel; they reinforce the home’s structural and spatial expression. From exposed timber framing to carved stone lintels, the house draws heavily on the vast talent pool of craftspeople working in the Austin area.

Recognition:
AIA Austin, Homes Tour Selection, 2009