This 2005 house designed by KRDB was way ahead of its time. It was featured in Dwell magazine and the original sales price was $265k. Fast forward almost 20 years and it still looks great, and it still feels like a good deal at the current price.

Price: $799,000

Details: 1,518 sf, 3 Bed, 2 Bath

I often forget about 6th and Brushy because there really aren’t too many units that get resold. That being said it is one of my favorite condos. They really nailed the loft style modern condo and the location is a perfect compromise of East Austin / downtown. Top it off with good pricing and you got a winner.

Price: $450,000

Details: 850sf, 1 Bed, 1 Bath

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for these live work townhomes on East 6th. I can’t honestly say that I would want to live in one, it’s a bit in the scrum these days, but when I moved to Austin over 10 years ago I always pined for them. Is it just me, or does that price seem too good to be true?

Price: $545,000

Details: 1,142 sf, 2 Bed, 2 Bath

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for these Este lofts. They’re a great location, not too close to the 6th crawl but close enough. They also pull off the industrial loft look better than most condos in town and they tend to be relatively affordable. Nice.

Price: $450,000

Details: 1,003 sf, 1 Bed, 2 Bath

There really isn’t much good 50’s residential architecture in East Austin, so I believe it’s extra important to preserve what little there is. This 1956 ranch sits just south of Cherrywood and has great mid century modern vibes. Hat tip to whoever remodeled it too, spot on.

Price: $1,185,000

Details: 2,158 sf, 3 Bed, 3 Bath

Let’s be honest, most residential architecture isn’t often experimental and playful. With this East Austin ADU North Arrow Studio proves you can be playful, stylish and affordable. Pretty hard to argue with all that.

Price: $650,000

Details: 1,100 sf, 2 Bed, 2 Bath

I’ve been in a few of these ICON 3D printed houses and they are gorgeous. I do admit I’m a bit curious about how that bare concrete holds up to dirt etc. Either way this is a very cool house for not a lot of money by Austin standards.

Price: $649,900

Details: 968 sf, 2 Bed, 2 Bath

This is one of those houses that doesn’t exactly blow your mind, but it just manages to get a lot of important things right, including the price. The deep East Austin location has become a sweet little spot in the last few years too.

Price: $729,000

Details: 1,852 sf, 4 Bed, 4 Bath

Here’s another outside the box design from the fine folks at coXist. I’m going to be honest, I’m a bit on the fence about the front facade shape, but some things are better appreciated in person. The inside however is an absolute hit as far as I’m concerned.

Price: $1,600,000

Details: 2,213 sf, 3 Bed, 3 Bath

Back when this sold in a state of disrepair in 2018 I really had my fingers crossed it would get a proper restoration. It’s always tough updating a historic house but they did a brilliant job on this one. What a special house (and guest house), and you couldn’t ask for a better location either.

Price: $1,995,000

Details: 3,178 sf, 5 Bed 6 Bath

Today is the official first day of summer, which means it’s only going to get hotter here in Austin. A lot of my clients that are moving to Austin from cooler states ask me how the summers are here, and I never sugar coat it. It’s hot. Very hot. You’re going to sweat a lot, and your’e going to need to cool down.

Luckily there are two very good solutions to both those problems. Swimming, and deliciously refreshing summer time drinks. Over the years I’ve shared a lot of my favorites on my newsletter so I’ve decided to do a big round up here of how to survive a summer in Austin.

Perhaps one of the most ironic parts about our house is that the focus from the very beginning has been the inner courtyard, and yet somehow it has been the last thing to be finished.

Because of budget reasons the pool and all our landscaping for the back yard didn’t get completed with the house. That doesn’t mean that we weren’t planning ahead though. Our guest house is at the exact level as the main house, which meant until now it has been sitting awkwardly above grade. The pool that we added a year ago was also at the same level, meaning it too stuck above grade making it look like an above ground pool. There were also stub outs for gas and electric to go to the back yard.

I have a confession to make, I’ve been holding out on you. It’s partly because I’m lazy, and partly because I’ve wanted to keep it all to myself. It’s time to come clean though and introduce you to House of St. Clair. I’m not a particularly fashionable guy, but I’ve always thought that menswear is feeling fairly stagnant these days. That’s exactly what got me so excited about HOSC. They take deep inspiration from the past (like their Detroit influenced fall winter collection) but execute everything with a contemporary twist.

Last year I was fortunate enough to have some talented friends over to help document our house and capture a few of my thoughts about what makes a good space. If you haven't already seen the gorgeous photos taken by Andrea Calo stop what you are doing right now and check them out here. 

Special thanks also goes out to Sisterwolf for getting me in front of a camera and picking my brain a bit about why I love architecture and the work I do. 

When it comes to barbecue Texas takes itself very seriously. Here barbecue is all about beef brisket and when it comes to brisket Franklins is king. I'm not here to dispute any of that, what I am here to do is to make a confession. I love ribs. Delicious, falling off the bone, smothered in barbecue sauce ribs. I'm not alone obviously and most of the well known barbecue places in town offer ribs as well, but if you are looking to avoid the lines and get some finger licking delicious smoked meats, there are some new kids in town to help you out. Meet J. Leonardi's Barbeque.

I know a lot of you have been patiently waiting for photos of my house finished. There are a few tiny projects I'm finishing up still and then I promised I'll share. In the meantime we are finally at a good stopping point were I think it would be fun to stop and look at how far we've come. The two biggest questions I get about my house are how long did it take, and how much did it cost. So let's start with the first. I've broken down a rough timeline below of major milestones and noted where we could have moved faster. Cliff notes: it takes a long time to build a house.

Tis the season of music festivals and art shows! Really this is one of my favorite times of year in Austin. East Austin Studio tour is always a highlight and I'm excited to check out all the great talent in this city. This year I'll be kicking things off attending ARTBASH. Never heard of it? We'll it's about time. This is the second annual event and it looks like it's going to be a good one. I'm particularly excited about the venue as well.

Keep your eye on my instagram for a chance to win two tickets or buy your own here.

Austin may be well known for its music scene, but it also has a flourishing art scene that deserves attention. Despite having lots of legitimate local talent I've always felt like the city has been lacking a bit in exhibitions with well known national and international artists. Don't get me wrong, The Contemporary does a decent job but I'm super excited about the good work that POP Austin has been doing in the contemporary art scene here in Austin. That's why I'm super excited to be giving away 10 weekend passes to this year's show. So let's get to the details:

It's crazy to think the last update was all the way back in February. Since then a lot has changed. It's still not much to look at from the street, between the dumpster, the fence and all the scaffolding. We're just waiting for the rain to pass so we can do our last coat of stucco. It's a white stucco with integral color, when finished it almost looks just like white concrete. With that and some metal screens that we have planned over the windows it should be looking lots better soon. You can see now that thanks to it being set below grade it doesn't look too imposing, despite being two stories. I parked my classic Range Rover there to help you with scale. :)

This week marks the beginning of SXSW 2016, also know to locals as "everybody please get the fuck out of my town". About this time every year I start to see a bunch of top 10 lists pop up about where to eat and drink in Austin. Most of them are pretty solid, and they definitely cover the basics but the reality is they barely scratch the surface of what Austin has to offer. This year I wanted to take a different approach and talk about some of my favorite places to eat and drink in east Austin that you will probably never find on a top 10 list, but absolutely deserve to be.