After purchasing a classic 1920’s bungalow in the Zilker Neighborhood that suffered an awkward and ill-conceived remodel by the previous owner, Franke : Franke was asked to ‘clean up’ the previous remodel, and to add a separate pool house studio, and new pool and spa.  Our design process included conversion of an underutilized breakfast/ dining alcove to a new home office, redesign of a small study space within the primary suite, with the strategic use of casework to create a large master closet and also define a gracious threshold entry and dressing area to the sleeping portion of the newly configured suite.  Service and storage areas were reorganized, a guest bath was re-conceived as a new spa-like bath to serve both the adjacent remodeled guest bedroom, and double as a powder room for visitors.   A third bedroom was re-conceived as a full en suite bath and bedroom through the relocation of doorways and adjustments to circulation patterns.

In the public areas of the project, previous alterations including a peculiar added interior brick wall and disjointed level changes within the kitchen, were removed.  The floor was raised to a uniform level that now flows seamlessly to the new exterior deck accessed through a set of over-sized French doors.  An intimate dining room was created from an existing patio, and linked to a new deck with grill and connected to the kitchen.

New construction included a separate pool house apartment to provide private accommodations for the family’s three grown children when visiting for extended periods of time.  The new 750 square foot apartment opens to the pool deck through a series of large glass panel sliding doors.   Although the scale of the pool house apartment is relatively modest, design of the new structure includes a full kitchen, living space, full en suite bath, bedroom, and laundry.

Material palettes were selected to blend new and remodeled spaces into a cohesive whole, with limestone, cedar, and stucco predominating throughout.  Ground, polished concrete with select aggregate creates a terrazzo like finish throughout the new pool house apartment, and a large rolling barn door with a chalk paint finish adds a playful and a relaxed feel to the newly composed spaces, with a new pool and spa central to, and visible from both the original and added spaces.