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Each of the couple's three children have their own rooms, with built-in desks and storage units. The bedrooms have rift and quartered white oak flooring.

Frameless bedroom windows extend beyond the floor and ceiling. "Since it's such a small house, it was really important to have this connection between the interior and exterior," says the couple.

The architects did not want "the operating theater" of can lights, so Ernesto designed a custom fixture consisting of a simple steel plate that disguises "cheap can lights," seen here in the upper hallway. "It looks like a $1,500 fixture, but it's like $300," he says.

The exterior of the lower level is clad in mill-finished black steel panels, while the upper level features vertical Garapa wood siding.

The living room sits at the rear of the house, connected to the garden. "Even though it's a very small house, we wanted the living room to be very generous," says the couple. "This room is the life of the house."

The goal for the first floor was to embrace the shade provided by the mature trees, create a rich material moment, and incorporate all of the storage that the family would need.

The kitchen features Ikea cabinets, soapstone countertops, and steel backsplash. The oak panel doors conceal additional storage and mechanicals.

The site was constrained by the root system of the mature trees, along with parking requirements, leading to a massing of two stacked boxes, with the larger upper level creating an overhang.

The 1,922-square-foot home was built on a double-wide lot that the owners purchased and subdivided with another couple.

Architects Ernesto Cragnolino and Krista Whitson designed and built an efficient four-bedroom home for their family in Austin.