This is a concept home in a new neighborhood called Agave in East Austin. I like the variety of depth of the front elevation and the contrasting angular nature of the roof lines.
Unfortunately, most of the floorplans of the homes designed for this neighborhood seem to be rather clunky. They remind me of apartments I have lived in. This seems to be because the lots are extremely narrow (50×100 in most cases). This forces the homes into a long, narrow hallway of a building.
But there were other details I noticed, like how the living/dining/kitchen areas are all open to one another, something that doesn’t really work when kids are watching cartoons in the livingroom and you’re trying to have adult conversation (or just some quiet time) in the kitchen. Also, most of the homes don’t have a “public” bathroom, or if they do it is located in an odd spot (the one I’ve highlighted actually has a nicely located half-bath, one of the few).
I love how all of these houses have lots of windows, but in the Texas summer heat we really have to watch window placement. David and worked hard to come up with a design that allowed as little heat into the house as possible on the southwest wall of the house. The glass windows and doors leading to the backyard will be double paned, low-E, and the rest will have screens and/or awnings.
Looking at other house designs, after spending 7 months designing our own, has given me an appreciation for truly efficient, usable (or livable) design.
I recommend Small Houses and The Very Small Home if you are trying to get away from the faux efficiency of designs featured in The Not-So-Big House (note to Susanna Susanka: 3000sf is big, for real).
Click on the pic for details.