On the porch

 

I would like to rest on this porch and read the newspaper for a while. 

Pretty house

 I love this cute house in Hyde Park. 

Austin house in 1940

 Here is our family home when it was first built in 1940. That is my mother on the front porch.
It is now in Central Austin. Back then, that was far north. 

Watch out!

I don't know who Doug is, but I don't want to find out!

Rosewood

The Rosewood restaurant is in a historic old house on the East Side. It is located at the fork of East 11th and Rosewood.

One large house

Houses this big always get my attention. I wonder what the utility bills and taxes run in a place like this? And the maintenance -- wow.

Modern look

Interesting to see these modern-looking houses going in next to 1940s style cottages. This one is in Old West Austin.

Lotta house, huh?

This huge home is part of Old West Austin. It has a lot of modern elements, though.

Now there's some architecture!

Well, it's eclectic, I'll say that for it!

Love this attitude

Come on in and sit a spell!

Signs of the times

In the seventies, a really fine house in Austin cost around $50,000. Now a lot in Bouldin is a steal at $100,000.

Downtown Living: Another Version

Steps from downtown there are all sorts of living arrangements. These houses, which appear to be one property, are a block from the Austin Convention Center on Third Street. They are for sale or lease if you are ready to move a little closer to the action. It wouldn't surprise me if they had commercial zoning.

Juxtaposition of Houses

FFP took this juxtaposition of houses in Clarksville/Old West Austin last Sunday. The house on the left probably looks good on paper with its height making use of the lot and different materials. It looks a little ungainly with the older house that is making use of 'porch storage.'

Where's This House?

I'm not sure what all locales would have a house with this design, but the plants, including a cactus, mark it as a picture from here. The house is on Highland north of West Sixth. The neighborhood includes big old homes and modest homes in an area known as Clarksville, once home to emancipated slaves. It also includes modern infill, apartments, condos and some businesses that are iconic like Nau's Enfield Drug and Jeffrey's.

Purple House

On our walk the other day we snapped Lucinda Hutson's house. The front yard has lots of herbs and flowers and she isn't afraid of color! (She's even influenced neighbors to use bright colors on their houses.) She is an author of books on herbs and tequila and someone who adds a lot of color to our current neighborhood and the whole community.

Historic Home on the UT Campus

FFP and I went to a reception on the UT campus last Monday. This Victorian House, built in 1893, survives amid much more modern structures. It is called Littlefield House after the cattle baron, banker, Confederate officer and generous campus benefactor George Littlefield. Inside the first floor has incredible high ceilings and wood detail.

Musical Soiree

We spent the late afternoon/early evening yesterday having a few drinks and snacks and listening to friends of ours singing at a house musicale. Kevin Ahart watches above as Marie Betcher sings. The right part of the montage shows William Parker, who opened his house for the very old school event, and also sang some tunes. From Kevin's Great American Songbook tunes (think Rogers and Hart and Cole Porter) to Marie's opera arias and William and Marie doing some Broadway with a few volunteers from the audience thrown in there was a lot of music accompanied by Shawn Ellison, sight-reading everyone's sheets on the piano before ducking out for a paying gig at Truluck's. It was a very enjoyable and unusual way to spend time in this high-tech age.

Austin is buildings and scenic overlooks, but the people make the place for sure so it's fitting that a few faces show up here for a day or two!

Stately Home...and Trees

There is an area north of The University of Texas where homes were built by local architects and craftsmen, sometimes for themselves and, often, for professors. Most people refer to the area as Harris Park, I believe. We took a Heritage Society tour of the exteriors of some of the houses on 32nd Street yesterday. This shot doesn't show the Monterey-style Spanish Colonial Revival house to best effect. Rather I shot it to enjoy the beautiful live oak on the property. Click here to enjoy the larger image.