Crestvale Residence: A Place to Unwind by Clark Richardson Architects

The Crestvale Residence is a two-story single-family home next to Austin's Barton Creek Greenbelt. The house sits on a large corner lot and is designed to face both the front and side yards. 

The front of the house has a charming pedestrian entrance surrounded by native grasses and wildflowers, leading to a sheltered porch and entryway. On the side of the house is a driveway framed by the owner's food and herb garden on one side and a medicinal garden on the other. 

The primary living spaces, such as the home office and bedrooms, are located on the first floor, while the second floor contains a secondary living room.

The homeowners wanted a modern and timeless home, and they focused on using local natural materials in the design process. The result is a residence with strong horizontal roof forms intersected by vertical rusticated rubble masonry elements against a smooth, dark stucco framework. 

The masonry is a custom mix of local limestone and was installed by a single Mason to maintain the consistency of the irregular coursing. The masonry wraps around and over various facade elements with simple openings at apertures. At the main entrance, the coursing becomes finer, marking the threshold.

The residence was designed with sustainability in mind and features green materials and techniques throughout. The house was featured as an Austin Energy Green Building Case Study House and received a 5-star rating through their system.

This residence boasts a 1” insulated zip board and high R-value Rockwood thermal insulation on the exterior walls and roof. It also features an integrated rain screen lathe system on the smooth stucco cladding. 

Inside, the use of MgO board instead of drywall and doug fir soffits and siding with oil finishes give the interior a unique look. For a toxin-free option, Romabio paint was used throughout instead of acrylic. To complete the design, high SEER HVAC systems with UV filtering were installed.