Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: New Life for the Childhood Home of LBJ’s Mom
Native woods, earthy colors and uncluttered simplicity revive the original warmth of the 1887 Texas home
Kitchen. When the owners bought the house, it “had two kitchens and a weird layout,” Fisher says. “It was very dark. They brightened it up and opened up the passageways and made one of the kitchens into the dining room. They restored it back to the way it would have been.” The footprint of the original kitchen stayed the same.
The renovation included bringing in furnishings from the family’s Austin home — “a lot of overflow stuff,” Fisher says, “but it’s very good overflow stuff.” The pieces include four vintage Danish chairs from the 1960s that Fisher reupholstered.
Cabinet paint: Garden Path, Benjamin Moore
The renovation included bringing in furnishings from the family’s Austin home — “a lot of overflow stuff,” Fisher says, “but it’s very good overflow stuff.” The pieces include four vintage Danish chairs from the 1960s that Fisher reupholstered.
Cabinet paint: Garden Path, Benjamin Moore
Fisher designed the L-shaped bench for a corner of the kitchen. It’s crafted from local pecan, a “great, dense wood that has a lot of variation in tone,” she says.
The bench is freestanding and seats eight to nine people. It replaced an older bench that was shallow-seated and not very comfortable. “I wanted to make it more comfortable because it’s the kitchen and everybody hangs out in the kitchen,” Fisher says. She combined the homeowners’ vintage photos, family heirlooms and collected art to display on a ledge above the bench.
The bench is freestanding and seats eight to nine people. It replaced an older bench that was shallow-seated and not very comfortable. “I wanted to make it more comfortable because it’s the kitchen and everybody hangs out in the kitchen,” Fisher says. She combined the homeowners’ vintage photos, family heirlooms and collected art to display on a ledge above the bench.
The style of the home is “more like a typical Southern house, with transoms over the windows and passageways all through the house to keep the air flowing,” Fisher says. A large open area at the back of the kitchen includes a pantry cabinet, back right, and plenty of space for dishes. The built-in hutch on the left backs up against the fireplace seen in the second photo.
Dining room. Travertine floor tiles make for easy cleanup in the dining room. The door used to open into the room. Fisher flipped it so it opens outward and doesn’t infringe on the relatively compact space.
A console table and sheer curtains add modern elements to the traditional feel of the dining table and chairs.
A console table and sheer curtains add modern elements to the traditional feel of the dining table and chairs.
Living room. The owners are “very musical people,” Fisher says, so the living room often sees impromptu jam sessions. The husband and son both play the piano and the wife plays the viola.
Fisher designed the coffee table on wheels so it’s easy to push out of the way when people gather to make music. It’s made of the same local pecan as the bench in the kitchen. The floor is longleaf pine, original to the house. The painted wood ceiling reflects the abundant Hill Country light.
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Fisher designed the coffee table on wheels so it’s easy to push out of the way when people gather to make music. It’s made of the same local pecan as the bench in the kitchen. The floor is longleaf pine, original to the house. The painted wood ceiling reflects the abundant Hill Country light.
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Sunroom. Travertine tile also covers the floors in the airy sunroom. The dresser is painted in the same sage green as the kitchen cabinets.
Chair and sheer panels: West Elm
Chair and sheer panels: West Elm
Guest room. The main-floor master bedroom is used as the guest room. The couple and son use the two bedrooms and full bath upstairs. Fisher installed the new pecan mantel, repainted the walls and added new art.
The upstairs hall leads to the two other bedrooms.
Main bedroom. The same green paint used for the kitchen cabinets and sunroom dresser enlivens the walls in the upstairs master bedroom. The longleaf pine floors are original.
Veranda. The second-floor porch overlooking the Blanco River is a relaxing space in which to read or nap.
The home’s original owners, LBJ’s grandparents, named the house Amenthal after his grandmother’s maiden name, Ruth Ament Huffman. The current owners came close to losing the home in 2015 when the Blanco River breached the 100-year flood level. But the house sits slightly up from the flood plain. With that siting, and its 1½-foot-thick Texas limestone walls, Amenthal could well stand for another 100-plus years.
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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: This is a second home for an Austin, Texas, family. She’s a former stylist and he works in technology. Their son is in high school.
Location: Blanco, Texas
Size: 2,000 square feet (186 square meters); three bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms
Designer: J. Fisher Interiors
In 1887, Joseph Wilson Baines and his wife, Ruth, bought this simple riverside home in Blanco, Texas, that had been built of native Texas stone quarried nearby. Their daughter Rebekah, then 6, played under the oaks surrounding the house, where the family lived until 1904. Decades later, Rebekah’s son Lyndon Baines Johnson would become the 36th president of the United States.
The current homeowners, a former stylist and a technology worker with a son in high school, purchased the house in the early 2000s and have spent years renovating and restoring it — first on their own and, more recently, with the help of designer Jennifer Fisher.