9 Stunning New Homes in Austin Will Open Their Doors for a Virtual Tour

Every fall since 1986, the AIA Austin chapter has welcomed thousands in the community to celebrate the city’s best residential architecture in their annual Homes Tour—and this year, the audience may be the biggest yet. 

For the 34th year of the AIA Austin Homes Tour, the city’s new and recently renovated homes that have been handpicked for design excellence will open up to a global audience in an immersive online experience that includes self-guided, 360-degree virtual walkthroughs, live discussion sessions with the architects, and much more. The 2020 AIA Austin Homes Tour is scheduled for October 16 to 19, 2020, with live sessions on October 17 and 18. Keep reading for a sneak peek at the nine homes highlighted in this year’s tour.

Barton Hills Brickhouse by baldridgeARCHITECTS

Designed for a musically inclined couple and their three beagles in Barton Hills, this four-bed, three-and-a-half bath home channels the laid-back charms of Coachella Valley’s Palm Desert with its emphasis on indoor/outdoor design and a beautiful, low-maintenance palette, from patterned white brick cladding and ipe siding to board-formed concrete and weathered steel that wrap around desert-modern landscaping.

Camp Frio by Tim Cuppett Architects

Local craftsmanship, endless Texas Hill Country views, and a year-round connection with nature combine in this multi-family compound on the bank of the Frio River. The remote cluster of buildings, which reads as a single mass from afar, comprises a spacious main house, a pair of guest studio cottages, as well as a meditation room set above a combined art studio and garage for a total of five beds and five-and-a-half baths.

Read our story on Camp Frio here.

Dogtrot House by Charles Di Piazza Architecture

Built in 1926, this innovative Central Austin residence puts a contemporary twist on the building’s original dogtrot form typically defined by two independent cabins with a breezeway down the middle. This 21st-century interpretation introduces two perpendicular breezeways that run the full length and width of the building to invite natural ventilation and daylight into the heart of the "four-cabin" home.

Inglewood by Mark Odom Studio

A client’s love of midcentury-modern design and desire for minimal site impact shaped the Inglewood Residence, a light-filled home with a series of courtyards informed by existing mature trees. The careful attention to site preservation is celebrated with a constant indoor/outdoor connection achieved through a unified material palette for the exterior and interior as well as an abundance of floor-to-ceiling windows.

The Ridge by THOUGHTBARN

A grove of heritage oaks surround this boldly angular Barton Hills house, a new build that began as a renovation project and retains traces of the original construction, including a close approximation of the former H-shaped floor plan. Thoughtfully redesigned to complement the neighborhood’s midcentury homes, the contemporary abode was also strategically laid out for beautifully framed views of the live oak trees.

Solarium by Jobe Corral Architects

Jobe Corral Architects have hidden a surprising addition behind a historic Craftsman house—a strikingly modern, steel-glass-and-concrete addition that completely opens up the family room to the outdoor landscape while paying homage to the original construction with handmade craft details, including a custom pulley for the fireplace screen.

The Hive by Studio 512

Limited to just 320 square feet under city regulations, this cleverly compact guesthouse makes the most of its spatial constraints by looking to Dutch and Japanese space-saving design precedents for inspiration. With walls that lean outward from the slab, the beehive-like, one-bed, one-bath abode in Central East Austin feels surprisingly spacious with tall ceilings, large windows, and built-in storage throughout the 550-square-foot interior.

West Campus by Alterstudio Architecture and Mell Lawrence Architects

Designed by a husband-and-wife architect duo for their family of five, this 1,922-square-foot net-zero home lives large in a relatively compact footprint. The root systems of the mature live oaks and the narrow lot informed the massing of two stacked boxes—a cantilevered wood-clad volume atop a smaller mill-finished steel volume—punctuated with frameless glazing that extend the indoors out.

Windsor Road Farm by Hugh Jefferson Randolph Architects

Restored, renovated and expanded, a 1939 Page Southerland & Page-designed home has been thoughtfully reconfigured into a colorful three-bed, two-and-a-half-bath home for a family with a small urban farm. In addition to a sustainable vegetable garden, the home also incorporates salvaged materials sourced from homes and buildings across Austin.

Find tickets for the 2020 AIA Austin Homes Tour (October 16 - 19, 2020) online.

Related Reading: The AIA Is Urging Congress to Safeguard the Future of Architecture—and America