The Jessie Street house is a renovation for our friends Ingrid and Todd Spencer (and their elementary school aged son), who were looking to retain the character of their existing 1950s central Austin house, but reprogram the entire structure to suit their lives better. Ingrid is an architectural writer so the prospect was exciting but also daunting.
People generally come to Baldridge Architects for modern crystalline forms, but in this case we opted to celebrate the elegant low-slung gable of the existing structure to create generous outdoor living spaces as well as a covered pool deck at the rear. The completed house features two bedrooms and two bathrooms, copious storage, an open kitchen, a hidden man-cave and a generous pool and deck. There is a slyness to the design in that the modesty of its form masks the complete transformation within.
