Residential Remodel - Austin, TX
Not every remodel has to be bold or make a huge external statement. In fact, when we are working with older Austin homes, we are trying to honor the history of the design while making modern changes that don’t scream “new”. This was the case with a 2 bedroom, 1 bath bungalow on 37th Street that one client brought to us in the fall of 2012. The existing house—less than 1300 square feet—built in the 1930′s had an outdated add-on, a small kitchen, and a shabby carport. These remodels are always tricky because we never know quite what we will find, and at the same time, there are some attributes worth preserving, like the all-original pecan floors.
We worked with the owner and—on this project— with architect Nick Mehl to create a marriage of design and function that worked with the existing structure and materials.
When we were done, you can stand on the street and you would almost never know the house had been remodeled. But when you open the front door, it was a world of transformation. In collaboration with the owners, the main living space is now beautiful and very spacious with an added reading room and open concept kitchen. We created this completely new kitchen with an expanded footprint, modern amenities, and greatly improved function. In the back of the home, we fulfilled the owner’s vision by adding a totally new master bedroom, walk-in closet, and laundry room. The master bathroom features an undermount tub with granite and soapstone countertops.
You can see in the photos, that it is like a completely different home on the inside—while not looking out of place within the historical design elements. To top it all off, so to speak, we built a metal roof and constructed a detached two-car garage where the carport once stood. This remodel was started in the latter part of 2012 we finished it in early 2013. When we were done after 5 months, the home had grown to be about 1850 square feet, an increase of 42% that belied the home’s historic charm. With a lot of hard work, planning, and listening, we had a remodeling miracle on 37th Street.