The Cove
Category:
Private Residential
Transforming a Mediterranean-style house to feel both modern and relaxed.
Sitting atop a bluff in Austin, this home’s incredible canyon and lake views were being diminished by its traditional architecture. When our clients, a newly married and very cool couple in their 40s, contacted us for a renovation, I immediately knew we needed to remove a series of transom windows and replace the living room wall with doors to the pool deck to take full advantage of those vistas. The rest of the project followed suit: transforming a Mediterranean-style house to feel both modern and relaxed.
Designer's notes
This is also a big house so we wanted to have zones of warmth. We covered the entire downstairs in white plaster and clad a tub niche in the primary bathroom in dark wood to bring focus to the windows. I wanted your eye to always be drawn to the exterior so we sourced thin, architectural chandeliers and low-slung furniture that wouldn’t distract. In a sitting room with the owners’ record collection and turntable, we built a window seat for six overlooking the bluff.
I don’t think a consistent paint scheme is necessary across an entire house—different colors can work together. The dining room and the husband’s office are a break from all the plaster. The latter is painted a deep blue-green and arranged around a vintage desk whose organic shape references the guitar he plays. The former is wrapped in a hand-painted wallpaper behind the custom banquette we designed. We knew the space was large so we wanted the back to be shown rather than set against a wall. Overall, this house is meant to feel like the homeowners could have a dinner party or a date night, and both would be totally comfortable.
“If art doesn’t shift the rooms pulse, it’s just decoration”
Chad Dorsey
