Cultured Austin Home with Exquisite Gardens | #Waccabuc Real Estate

Photos by Zac Seewald

Location: Austin, Texas
Price: $4,500,000
The Skinny: One of the coolest residences in Austin is on the market. Built in 1979, the original structure was designed by architect Robert James Coot, and has since been transformed by additions from Paul Lamb in 1988 (the farmhouse style kitchen, outdoor dining area, and lower level guest suite) and Mell Lawrence in 2003 (the expanded master bedroom, the covered second-floor porch, and the first-floor bedroom suite). Broker Laura Gottesman describes the result as “eclectic but elegant,” and speaking of eclectic, as of 2007, it sits across from an almost Brutalist-looking, AIA Austin-approved concrete work studio, also designed by Lawrence. This swell hodgepodge has been listed for$4,500,000 by landscape architect James David, who has lived and worked on it for three decades with his partner, Gary Peese.

In the two acres of surrounding gardens, “terraces linked by limestone steps, landings and garden paths” sit alongside what’s essentially the showroom of David / Peese Design, the landscape architect firm the couple runs together. Their work here has been featured in House & Garden, Metropolitan Home,Garden Design, House Beautiful, and most importantly, for our purposes, Martha Stewart’s “field trip” series. Inside, the home has limestone and plaster finishings, and a diverse assemblage of furniture that a tasteful buyer should really try convincing them to part with, collected over the years by the couple behind Austin’s now-shuttered but fondly remembered home decor and gardening store, Gardens.