It may be mentioned {that a} historic home is just nearly as good as its bones, however oftentimes, it takes slightly digging to search out them. Such was the case for Carrie and Robert Hicks, who discovered their dream dwelling within the type of a Tudor-inspired home inbuilt 1926 in one in all Austin’s oldest neighborhoods.
“We first fell in love with the placement and the nice large entrance yard. It was only a actually great house,” recollects Carrie, an inside designer who reduce her tooth in New York and West Hollywood earlier than settling down in Texas. The home had been by many palms within the practically hundred years earlier than the couple, who’ve three younger youngsters, took possession in 2015. Layers upon layers of misguided renovations had taken their toll. “The bones had been there, and the construction was there, so the concept was to herald Paul to save lots of the historic 1926 home,” she continues, referring to architect Paul Lamb, who was answerable for the rework.
However maybe Lamb sums it up finest himself: “ that story about inheriting grandpa’s ax?” He inquires in his tender Texan twang. “First, the deal with provides out, and he replaces the deal with. Then, a few years later the pinnacle provides out, so he replaces the pinnacle. However it’s nonetheless grandpa’s ax.”
Regardless of the a long time of successive remodels, they had been decided to protect the house’s unique attraction and likewise channel a contemporary really feel. “What actually caught my consideration was that they favored the texture of this Tudor home, however Carrie’s favourite architect is Mies van der Rohe,” Lamb explains of conversations they’d within the early phases of the design course of. His answer was to protect the present construction and construct a Mies van der Rohe–impressed addition. They selected a minimal metal and glass quantity that sits atop brick columns and protrudes from the again façade. “I like that form of problem,” Lamb says, “making an attempt to make opposites speak to one another.”
Inside, the architect opened up what he describes as a “rat’s nest of rooms,” to create a naturally flowing flooring plan centered round a grand entranceway, which, he says, references the clear traces of Modernist villas. From there, the entryway results in the eating room, the place Carrie blended modern items with eighties icons, like a Memphis-era Ultrafragola mirror by Ettore Sottsass, which appears over an asymmetrical Assortment Particulière eating desk, Rose Uniacke Hoof console tables (whose legs resembled horses’ hooves), beige-toned Puffball sconces by Faye Toogood, and a classic crystal chandelier.
“I actually needed the home to have a mixture of artwork, design, and actual life,” she says of her mission for the home. “However we’ve got three youngsters, a canine, and a busy life, so we needed the house to be usable however nonetheless enjoyable.” Within the first flooring lounge, that meant pairing a luxurious customized couch—excellent for household recreation nights—with eye-catching classic items, like a shiny and streamlined Marc Newson Orgone chair from the ’90s and a midcentury wooden armchair by Guillerme et Chambron . Covetable artwork by Ed Ruscha—whose turmeric-colored portray hangs above the fireside—and work by Dutch photographer Hendrik Kerstens was additionally added to the combination.