The Owners hired Barley & Pfeiffer to help them achieve the craftsman style look, detailing, and lifestyle they desired, while also adhering to the highest of Austin’s green building standards.

It was very important for the Owner re-create a strict interpretation of the early 20th century Bungalow style – only adjusted as needed to meet today’s lifestyle – to house all the period furniture, art, and fixtures they had collected over the years. This home, with two active children, centers around family activities, and respects today’s lifestyle expectations.

The scale of the house is larger than many of the pre-existing homes on its street but blends into the neighborhood fabric and scale. The site, located in Tarrytown, suggested a home that opened to the neighborhood while providing a quiet retreat for the family. The finished house, with its broad open front porch, interacts with the street and the neighborhood in a welcoming manner. An open carport at the rear of the property creates an additional outside covered play area.

The “Craftsman Cottage” has received a Five Star rating from the Austin Green Building Program, yet doesn’t look “green” and pays homage to the dominant “Craftsman” style of the pre-existing and well-revered homes in the neighborhood – dispelling the myth that one has to “Go Weird to Go Green”. A comprehensive approach was taken from the start of the programming and design process to integrate sensibly placed advanced mechanical, lighting, hot water, passive cooling and other energy conservation systems.

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