Modern Multi Gen Living in the Pandemic Age

This gorgeous, new soft contemporary stucco home exudes a serene and understated elegance with a seamless flow between indoor and outdoor living spaces. Thoughtfully designed and built with attention to details for beauty, luxury and convenience by locally acclaimed Stephen Soward of Soward Architects.
Stephen’s goals for this project were three-fold:
1) To create a home with a design that could adapt to changing family needs while embracing family life in an open concept plan
2) To create a comfortable area on the property for complete quarantine that enables the quarantined party to remain visually and spatially engaged with the family
3) To address the distress of extreme heat of Texas summers at the home entrance, using glass and water views to inspire an immediate sense of cool and refreshing calm for homeowners and visitors.

He chose a close-in, urban lot with bikeable access to Austin’s vibrant downtown, lake and park life. To address the square footage limitations on a .26 acre urban lot and still provide ample greenspace to enjoy the outdoors, he used minimal to no hallways to maximize square footage allowance into the livable spaces.

With a sensitivity to modern family needs of blended households, multi-generational and changing physical needs, he designed: 1) zero step walk in showers, 2) eliminated step ups and downs in the house and 3) prewired and imbedded elevator space in the foundation to enable all occupants to access the 3 bedrooms, community room, beverage center and balcony to pool on the second floor.

The quarantine area has a retractable wall of glass with broad views of the pool and main house to enable the convalescent to stay connected. It has it’s own full kitchen, shower and laundry hook-ups. When not used for quarantine, the space can accommodate: long-term guests or family members, parties and entertainment, home office, exercise or hobby room. The master bedroom windows have views of the pool, the guesthouse, covered porch, balcony and living space for ease of visual monitoring (when needed!)

Finally, the house was designed with 10 foot ceilings throughout the home to create an open feel in a private, peaceful setting. Oversized windows and thoughtful home orientation allow natural light to cascade into living spaces throughout the day.