A gated advanced of 5 architecturally noteworthy houses is rising on a five-and-a-half acre website simply west of Austin, Texas. Positioned in upscale West Lake Hills, the five-bedroom houses are priced from $12.5 to $18 million with dwelling areas from about 6,700 to just about 10,000 sq. ft.
Described as a “non-public collective,” the 5 glass-rich up to date residences, every set on an approximate one-acre lot, are organized in order that the houses really feel “like they belong collectively,” say challenge designers. Every house’s orientation, sightlines, landscaping and partitions are positioned in order that the constructions look as in the event that they work together—and even riff off one another—with out sacrificing privateness.
The advanced presents a uncommon and considerate synergy for what might be simply one other homogeneous gated group.
“There’s actually nothing like this in Austin,” says Francisco Uzcategui, founding father of Houston-based Unicus, a residential design-build agency spearheading the challenge. “It’s uncommon to have the ability to design a bunch of houses in 5 subdivided tons.”
Five, as Uzcategui modestly calls the challenge, broke floor in late 2021. The primary house shall be full in November and the second in December. One other shall be completed in April 2024 and the ultimate two completed by early 2025. Eric Moreland of Moreland Properties holds the itemizing.
A 6-foot-tall travertine wall bisected by a gate borders the entrance of the event. Simply past, the houses are positioned in a U round a broad tree-lined avenue. Entries, courtyards, gardens and views from rooms are oriented, some in juxtaposition to one another, to supply steadiness and symmetry. From overhead, the event resembles 5 big puzzle items that type a cohesive complete.
“We’re not constructing these homes to only maximize the wonder and worth of every particular person house, however to enhance the collective 5 as an entire,” Uzcategui says. All the dwellings have swimming pools, gyms and both three- or four-car garages. Two of the houses have walk-in wine rooms, and the others embrace wine storage.
The houses have been designed by architect David Curiel, founding father of Curiel Arquitectos, launched in 2011. The agency, with places of work in Mexico Metropolis and Texas, is staffed with 40-plus architects, engineers and inside and furnishings designers, amongst others.
Curiel factors to homes No. 1 and a pair of, which face one another to the left of the gate. “We’ve positioned a backyard and patios in between, so we’re creating inexperienced areas to manage the views,” he says. “We use stone partitions, and greenery protecting stucco partitions all through the challenge, which assist mix the strains between the homes.”
Home No. 2 presents a modernist assemblage of shapes clad in limestone from Mexico. The creamy white to barely grey facade is accented by overhangs, their undersides confronted with stucco utilized with a brown adobe end, a course of that integrates the colour into the fabric. The strong brown can learn as almost black in low gentle. Reddish tones emerge in brighter gentle.
That interaction of supplies and colours, intersected by clerestories and partitions of home windows, yields a glance that’s studied however calming. The construction is banked by a terraced panorama resulting in the entry.
“A number of the house’s inspiration got here from viewing Los Angeles’ older homes,” says Curiel of the 9,010-square-foot residence. “So the house has extra of a midcentury type of vibe.”
Curiel says many owners are by no means capable of really admire their houses from the within due to the outward-facing structure. As an alternative, Curiel turns his homes in upon themselves.
“We accomplish this by way of layering and the format, the orientation of the rooms,” he says. “So should you’re standing within the eating room, you see your lined patio, the panorama, your pool, your facet of the home. You get to understand the stone that you simply picked, the colour.”
Skillful placement of glass partitions, typically utilized in hallways, additionally permits homeowners to view their property’s expanse. “You get the sunshine coming by way of each side, and you’re feeling the hugeness of the lot.” Curiel says. “I feel many designers envision the partitions first after which put home windows into them. My technique is to create glass partitions from the beginning.”
At 8,275 sq. ft, House No. 3 has dealing with wings that embrace an expansive courtyard. The area is anchored by an oak tree that’s about 130 years outdated, its cover reaching 40 ft. A pool is simply past.
The U-shaped courtyard “permits you to get pleasure from your individual home from totally different factors inside the home,” Uzcategui says. The courtyard was designed across the current heritage tree, which was moved 10 ft for higher placement.
“Shifting the tree took us about six months and value $189,000,” Uzcategui says. “We’ve additionally planted greater than 35 mature oaks introduced from offsite to create these lovely reference factors all through the property.” The oaks are 14 to twenty years outdated and are 25 to 30 ft tall, serving to to extend privateness.
Marble imported from Mexico covers the facade of No. 3 with each honed and acid-wash finishes. The 2 textures add further attraction and curiosity to the house, which shall be full in December. “And we invite that very same materials inside on a few of the partitions, so it seems like the outside is flowing into the inside,” Uzcategui provides. “That gives a number of heat.”
No. 3 has a stately look with its in depth use of marble, however its interiors really feel relaxed and even homey, partly completed with a heat cream and tan palette. Flooring and kitchen cabinetry are Bardolino grey oak, a saw-cut wooden with a classic look.
House No. 4, slated for completion in November, is clad with limestone sourced from the Austin space. “After we began digging, we found the soil was a really heavy, sturdy limestone,” Uzcategui says. “So we’ve used that as inspiration for the house’s facade.”
An intensive overhang that stretches throughout the entrance of the 7,961-square-foot home helps to deflect the Texas warmth. That construction additionally accentuates an attention grabbing 24-by-10-foot brass entry door topped by a smaller overhang.
Alongside one facet of the house is a dramatic two-story construction clad in stucco with a deep brown adobe end. The ultra-modern wing is lined with expansive home windows and appears incongruous in distinction to the remainder of the home. Uzcategui describes the quantity as “museographic,” an architectural intervention that fortunately intrudes, veering off the primary constructing’s stone facade.
Home No.1, which has been bought and shall be full in April 2024, is the smallest of the 5 at 6,682 sq. ft. Home No. 5, an L-shaped construction clad in darkish Italian brick, is the biggest at 9,870 sq. ft. “It was probably the most enjoyable to design, partly as a result of it has probably the most glass partitions,” Curiel says. The house features a cabana and a inexperienced “eco” roof, which has sweeping views of the Texas Hill Nation.
5 is six miles west of downtown Austin and is a 12-minute drive from the 4,000-acre Barton Creek Habitat Preserve, which has quite a few mountaineering trails. The advanced is throughout the Eanes Independent School District, which was not too long ago ranked the 10th best school district in the nation.