Story:

Survivors adjust to a situation. A strategic adjustment is the difference between success and failure. This property offered a prime view, but the steep terrain presented a challenge. The lot was too steep to construct a home up the hill and too narrow to position in side-to-side so we carved a step into the hill to set the home for two levels of living and flipped the bedrooms to the lower level and the living spaces to the upper level. It’s an inside-out and upside down home but that’s life when you live on the faultline!

Location:

Canyon Lake, TX (Designed 2012; Built 2014)

Idea:

shifted & upside down

Personalized new home!

Stats:

3,928 SF, 4BR, 3-1/2BA, office, media room, game room 2-story

Client’s Style:

tuscan

Services:

The Sketch, The Details, The Docs, The Consultant

Lifestyle Features:

• italian kitchen with integrated sculptural pantry to improve usability
• electric fireplaces in living and master for instant heat
• full-size dining balcony for al fresco events
• elevator to transport people, furniture and groceries between floors
• game room with built-in bar and kitchenette to feed entertainment value
• ceiling mounted projector with tv screen for digital movie-experience
• private guest suite to grant visitors a spa like experience
• barn door mirrors on master bath windows for privacy or light
• full-body dryer in master shower

Environment Solutions:

• ICF walls and spray foam roof to create efficient thermal envelope
• vinyl low-e windows to reduce heat gain
• deep overhangs and balcony to shade windows and reduce heat gain
• tankless water heaters for on demand, devoted hot water to master
• heat pump water heater for remainder of the house
• stained concrete floors on lower level for high-wear, low-maintenance finish
• cut into the hill and stair-stepped to minimize site disturbance
• pergola to shade windows/doors and reduce heat gain
• full-open sliding glass doors to bring the outside-in

Community Influence

• wide open faced to provide lakefront view to and from home
• stone, stucco and metal roof details to emulate style and value of neighboring homes

Sketches: