Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: Texas Home With a Lap Pool Ideal for 2 Triathletes
A contemporary new house in Austin offers its owners a place to train and take in the views
The front of the house is set back far from the street to create a long driveway that increases the sense of privacy. The rustic stone wall provides additional privacy and creates a contrast to the sleek lines of the rest of the home. Architect David Webber calls the home’s roofline a “scorpion’s tail.” It features an inverted flip at the front of the house that is designed to collect rainwater and direct it toward a series of gutters.
The exterior of the house is white stucco and the roof is metal. Vertical wood slats, or louvers, in front of some of the windows are both functional and stylish. “The two-story volume faces east and west, so it is important to have a tall screen to mitigate intense sunlight,” Webber says. “And it became a nice detail, repeating at the entry and in other places throughout the house.”
The south-facing lap pool and terrace are the focal point of the house. Overhangs provide ample shade and a great location for their collection of outdoor furniture. A yellow-painted front door leads to the main living spaces, which run the length of the gently sloped site.
The dining area and kitchen are spacious and light. The floating kitchen island is topped with Calacatta marble. The large island provides ample space for food preparation in addition to seating for casual meals. The Calacatta marble range wall features rich veining that balances well with the blond veneered cabinets, which were created from reconstituted strips of wood.
Browse marble tile
Browse marble tile
Webber used the same blond veneer to create a custom credenza that visually separates the living room from the dining area and provides additional storage. The closed curtain against the back wall can open to reveal what the homeowners lovingly refer to as the “sweat room.”
The “sweat room” features two stationary bikes that the homeowners use for training. Webber located the room in the house so whoever happens to be training can look out through the floor-to-ceiling window to the pool and the vistas beyond.
The living room opens to the south beside the pool and terrace. The house was designed to maximize optimal southern solar orientation on the main level; it then twists to orient toward easterly city views on the second level. In the background, through the window, note the stairwell to the second story with slatted wood accents.
A vertical wood screen wall on the exterior of the two-story windows both mitigates sunlight and creates a level of detail that allows the house to return to a human scale.
The master bedroom, which is on the first level of the house, has a floor-to-ceiling window positioned to let in light while providing privacy. The couple likes to take their yoga mats, stacked to the right, out onto their private Zen patio for yoga sessions.
The master bathroom has windows and glass doors overlooking the backyard and terrace. The floor is covered in honed glass tile with “a bit of grit in it so it’s not slippery,” Webber says.
Floor tile: Ann Sacks; tub: Wet Style; tub fixture: Kohler
Floor tile: Ann Sacks; tub: Wet Style; tub fixture: Kohler
The walk-in shower with a frosted blue glass sliding door is open on both ends. The cabinetry is maple-tinted blond veneer to match other cabinetry in the house. Calacatta marble was used again for the countertops.
Builder: FourSquare Builders
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Builder: FourSquare Builders
Find an architect to design your contemporary dream home
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A professional couple who are triathletes, and their daughter
Location: Austin, Texas
Size: Four bedrooms
Designers: David Webber of Webber + Studio (architect) and Veronica Koltuniak of VeroKolt (interior designer)
Created out of a desire for on-site training facilities, this newly built contemporary home features a 75-foot-long lap pool, an exercise room with two stationary bikes and a floor-to-ceiling window that let these triathlete homeowners take in the views while training.