My Houzz: From Train Depot to Family Home in Texas
by Kara Mosher · 14 photos · 29 comments
AFTER: The family wanted to live in the Guadalupe neighborhood of Austin and kept an eye out for old schoolhouses or churches to convert. "One weekend I took the kids up to Dallas to see family, and Julie later joined us by train — a foreshadowing of what was to come," says François Lévy.
"We drove home together along the same route, stopping at the houses she had spied along the way on the train. None of them really bore close scrutiny, but in Granger, Texas, we saw that the train depot had been moved about a block from the tracks."
by Kara Mosher
"We drove home together along the same route, stopping at the houses she had spied along the way on the train. None of them really bore close scrutiny, but in Granger, Texas, we saw that the train depot had been moved about a block from the tracks."
BEFORE: The station was in pretty poor shape when the family bought it. "As far as we know, the train station was built around 1904, perhaps even a decade later. When we moved the house, a train aficionado approached us and shared the one-sheet set of working drawings for the building from 1904," Lévy says. "In 1986 it was no longer in use, and the railroad sold it to the town of Granger for $10 if they would move it off the rail line."
Francois_Before Exterior
AFTER: The family moved the home from Granger to Austin and gave the exterior a facelift. Lévy rebuilt the roof and added six dormers for daylight and natural ventilation. He also added a half basement underneath the living room.
"We replaced two of three missing windows with some salvaged ones we found and moved a door and its transom from the west end of the house to the east facade to replace the third window. It's now the Juliet balcony in the kitchen," says Lévy.
by Kara Mosher
"We replaced two of three missing windows with some salvaged ones we found and moved a door and its transom from the west end of the house to the east facade to replace the third window. It's now the Juliet balcony in the kitchen," says Lévy.
BEFORE: "When Julie and I decided to move a house and renovate it, we struck a deal: Julie would pick the neighborhood, and I'd pick the building," says Lévy. After buying the structure, Lévy completely gutted the interior.
Francois_Before Interior
AFTER: The new kitchen now sits along the east wall of the building. "The railroad had added a couple of bathrooms at that location, which we tore out. Coincidentally, that's where I decided to place the kitchen," says Lévy. The location was largely determined by the desire to maintain an open-plan layout, since the couple loves to cook and entertain.
The kitchen has no dead corners. A cast-in-place concrete counter that's all one height provides a large work area to spread out on. The cabinets were all salvaged from a downtown law office renovation.
Bar stools: Lyon Workspace Products
by Kara Mosher The kitchen has no dead corners. A cast-in-place concrete counter that's all one height provides a large work area to spread out on. The cabinets were all salvaged from a downtown law office renovation.
Bar stools: Lyon Workspace Products
"I designed a counter that ended up being a bit long. What can I say? I love to cook," Lévy says. As a result, the table needed to be rather narrow to fit in the leftover space. "We've been through three or four dining tables, trying to find the right one. The one we have now is a reused glass top from an Office Max desk, sitting on a pair of $10 trestle legs from Ikea," he says.
by Kara Mosher
The curio cabinet contains many treasures, such as the children's ceramic projects, a collection of Quimper faience from Brittany, France, and wineglasses.
Lévy can't quite pinpoint his design style. He says, "I would use words like 'relaxed,' 'informal,' 'salvaged,' 'agrarian,' 'bohemian,' 'a little funky,' 'charming,' 'quirky.'"
by Kara Mosher Lévy can't quite pinpoint his design style. He says, "I would use words like 'relaxed,' 'informal,' 'salvaged,' 'agrarian,' 'bohemian,' 'a little funky,' 'charming,' 'quirky.'"
Julie found the wooden mantel at a garage sale. The couple thought of using it for an indoor fireplace one day but decided to have an outdoor fire pit instead. The mantel then got a new life as the frame for an old thrift store mirror.
by Kara Mosher
The couple worked with color designer Carol Burton to help determine the palette. "We asked Carol to be a neutral third party. She gave us a stack of magazines to clip from. We each individually clipped out swatches of pleasing colors, and Carol worked out a palette that represented the colors we had in common," says Lévy. "No fights about color!"
The paint color on the accent wall is an original created by Carol that is similar to Ablaze by Sherwin-Williams.
by Kara Mosher
The paint color on the accent wall is an original created by Carol that is similar to Ablaze by Sherwin-Williams.
The wood floors are original. "With these old floors, Watrelox, a tung oil product that Julie discovered, was a godsend. We didn't want to urethane them, as that would require future sanding that they probably couldn't take," says Lévy. The couple just buffed the floors with the oil and added a few more coats to rejuvenate them.
by Kara Mosher
AFTER: The master bedroom is now peaceful, and its many skylights fill the space with a natural, almost heavenly, glow.
One of the most beautiful elements in the home is a staircase created of sheet-copper from Austin metal supplier Todd Campbell.
by Kara Mosher
One of the most beautiful elements in the home is a staircase created of sheet-copper from Austin metal supplier Todd Campbell.
Among the other unique and cool elements in this home are the peek-hole windows that offer an eagle's-eye view of the living room and kitchen space as you walk up the spiral staircase.
by Kara Mosher
François Lévy, shown here, says, "My home is my architectural laboratory."
by Kara Mosher
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Where do the kids sleep?
A couple questions I have are 1 - (as others have wondered) where do the kids sleep? and 2 - What happened with the old theatre-style chairs I see in the "before" pic? Oh, and 3 - bathroom? :)