Houzz Tour: Wild for Wood in Central Texas
Mesquite, cherry and white oak harmonize beautifully in an Austin family's warm and modern home
Houzz Editorial Staff; writer, musician, father and husband.
Houzz Editorial Staff; writer, musician, father and husband. More »
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When you cover a lot of floor space with rich mesquite, you have to be especially careful when adding additional types of wood to the mix, lest you create a ski-cabin nightmare. But Mark Lind, a designer at CG&S Design-Build, obliterates any notion that a home can’t have a lot of wood and still look good.
For the material palette in this four-bedroom Austin, Texas home, the designer smartly incorporated a mix of cherry, white oak and medium density fiberboard (MDF) — an engineered product made from wood pulp — and kicked it all up with little surprises of poured concrete and black granite. The result is a daring, rich, sophisticated style that’s warm and cozy yet triumphantly modern.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of 4
Location: Austin, Texas
Size: About 4,900 square feet; 4 bedrooms; 5 bathrooms
For the material palette in this four-bedroom Austin, Texas home, the designer smartly incorporated a mix of cherry, white oak and medium density fiberboard (MDF) — an engineered product made from wood pulp — and kicked it all up with little surprises of poured concrete and black granite. The result is a daring, rich, sophisticated style that’s warm and cozy yet triumphantly modern.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of 4
Location: Austin, Texas
Size: About 4,900 square feet; 4 bedrooms; 5 bathrooms
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| Mesquite, one of the hardest woods in the world, is local in Texas and makes gorgeous, durable flooring. The homeowners have a large dog, so strong floors were a must. "Mesquite has a whole lot of character," says Lind. "There's a beautiful glow. It's the first thing people notice when they enter this house." But it's the staircase that stops guests in their tracks. Steel steps are wrapped in mesquite boxes. The stair wall is made of MDF panels whose grain pattern gives the impression of leather. "It's always great when you can take an inexpensive, almost industrial material and make it look expensive and exotic," the designer says. |
The stairs sit on a patinated steel I-beam.
Farther back, a saltwater aquarium rests on a slab of beautifully smooth concrete, surrounded by waterproof MDF panels. The front door, seen here in the background, is cedar.
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| A sizable custom-designed island topped with Black Galaxy gold-flaked granite commands attention in the kitchen. "It's about as large as we could make out of one piece of stone," says Lind. Because of its size, the designer wanted to break up the materials, so he used MDF panels for cabinetry on one side and cherry, the same material used for the wall cabinets, on the other. Steel shelves hanging from steel rods attached to the granite hold cookbooks. Backsplash: Weave Series (Harvest), Walker Zanger; lighting: Jesco Lighting Group |
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| A raised bar of poured concrete offsets the wood floors and black granite island top. But this isn't your typical concrete for making street curbs; this glass-fiber-reinforced version from Newbold Stone, who did all the concrete work, is smooth to the touch. The wood panel beneath the bar is cherry with a burled pattern. The dining furniture is from Collectic Home. |
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| Lind stripped the fireplace of its original painted brick and colonial-style mantel, adding materials that correspond elsewhere in the house: patinated steel, black granite and a poured concrete hearth that's cantilevered out. The TV cabinets follow the same approach, appearing to hover over the floor. The same cherry from the kitchen is used here, as are more stained MDF panels. A bank of backlit glass cabinets at the top nod to a nearby breakfast area that's similarly detailed. |
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| The fireplace is double sided, continuing around to the entry of a guest bedroom. The material connecting it to the wall looks like stone but is actually glass tile. |
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| Lind likes doing drop-off areas in homes. Here every family member has cubby holes for mail, keys, purses and more. |
Another drop-off area leads the way to the master bedroom on the second floor. Here white oak cabinets create a lighter contrast to the dark wood that dominates the first floor.
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| More black granite reigns supreme in the master bathroom. Here it's paired with more white oak cabinets. Lighting: Prima Lighting |
The homeowners wanted a shower "big enough to have a party in," says Lind. The space is covered in Walker Zanger's Xilo Smoke tile, which features fine multicolored lines. Interceramic's colored glass tiles act as accents.
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| The exterior of the house is local stone. Because the structure sits low on the property and was susceptible to flooding, Lind had to come up with an innovative approach to keep water out. |
His solution was to add an arroyo, a deep, dry trench landscaped with river pebbles that channels water from the front of the house to a creek out back.
In response to the arroyo, Lind created an ipe wood bridge with a steel cable railing that leads to the front door. The nearby cantilevered shade trellises over the windows keep the harsh western sun at bay.
In response to the arroyo, Lind created an ipe wood bridge with a steel cable railing that leads to the front door. The nearby cantilevered shade trellises over the windows keep the harsh western sun at bay.
Ideabook updated on Feb. 19, 2013.
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SPACIALISTS
Overall, I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Actually, it's because of all of these windows that the house was photographed at night-- otherwise there would have been too much glare.
The front of the house faces west, and as a result it gets baked by our afternoon Texas sun! That's the reason for all of the shade awnings and trellises. We wanted modify the existing exterior (originally in a Colonial style) to make the house more responsive to this climate.
Thanks for all your comments.
This was a great project to work on and the clients have been wonderful !
Mark Lind
Stitches in the kids forehead from the open stairs..ouch!
However, I was totally shocked to see the front of the house because it seemed to be very disconnected from the inside of the house. To my amateur eye, it looks like a completely traditional exterior that had some modern touches (like the awnings and the rails) placed on it. But for me, the most inconsistent element is the gable (????) covered with orange stone which really screams traditional rather than modern.