Independent Spirit The owners of this Austin, Texas, house can easily survey the land spread out below them. But their house is so high up on a hillside, it would be difficult for anyone else to see into it. So architects Juan Miró and Miguel Rivera decided to place the master bath’s two shower columns against a windowed corner, giving the clients a glorious view without the accompanying fear that someone else might be viewing them. “Whoever wants to look would have to have a lot of equipment,” says Miró.
The rest of the room follows an equally unconventional script. Rather than placing storage under the vanity, Miró and Rivera located it in handy spots such as a towel niche in the limestone tub surround and a small linen closet at the entrance to the bath. A solid-fuel firebowl occupies a pass-through between the bedroom and bath, so it’s visible from both the tub and the bed. “It’s cleaner than a typical fireplace, which is important this close to the tub,” Miró says. “Also, it looks very clean and sharp when not in use.” The owners didn’t want ever-present vanity mirrors, so the architects slipped them behind the medicine cabinet doors for easy access. The resulting space comes across as beautiful and personal—the essence of a custom bath.
CH060401097L7.jpg Photographer: Paul Bardagjy Builder: Crowell+, Austin, Texas; Architect: Miró Rivera Architects, Austin; Interior designer: Vision Design, Dallas; Project size: 99 square feet; Construction cost: Withheld; Photographer: Paul Bardagjy. A pocket door conveniently connects the bath to a dressing room. Builder: Crowell+, Austin, Texas; Architect: Miró Rivera Architects, Austin; Interior designer: Vision Design, Dallas; Project size: 99 square feet; Construction cost: Withheld; Photographer: Paul Bardagjy. Roof overhangs and a northerly orientation protect the windowed shower from heat gain. Builder: Crowell+, Austin, Texas; Architect: Miró Rivera Architects, Austin; Interior designer: Vision Design, Dallas; Project size: 99 square feet; Construction cost: Withheld. Project Credits: Builder: Crowell+, Austin, Texas; Architect: Miró Rivera Architects, Austin; Interior designer: Vision Design, Dallas; Project size: 99 square feet; Construction cost: Withheld; Photographer: Paul Bardagjy.
Resources: Firebowl: CVO; Fittings/fixtures: Duravit, Hansgrohe, and Kohler.
Details The architects selected the same raw materials for the bath—limestone, teak, and Douglas fir—as they did for most other parts of the house. “We don’t like to introduce more materials than necessary,” says architect Juan Miró.
Open Secret This bathroom in a San Francisco pied-a-terre forms a cohesive whole with the master bedroom—just the effect its owners and designers had planned. “It’s intended to be a room that you can leave open all the time,” says architect Luke Ogrydziak of Ogrydziak/ Prillinger Architects. “The client had spent a lot of time in Asia, where it’s more common to have open bathrooms.” Its limestone floors extend a few feet into the bedroom, obscuring the distinction between the two spaces. And specially designed folding doors nestle discreetly into the walls when fully open, leaving unbroken sightlines between the bedroom and bath.
CH060401097L11.jpg Builder: Webb Construction, San Francisco; Architect/Interior designer: Ogrydziak/Prillinger Architects, San Francisco; Project size: 185 square feet; Construction cost: Withheld. More limestone tiles, cut to varying sizes for an organic effect, cover the walls, ceilings, and vanity. “We wanted it to feel very solid, like everything was carved out of a single piece,” says Ogrydziak. The vanity’s cabinetry and mirror lie flush with the surface of the stone to reinforce the monolithic impression. And the open shower’s trough-style drain and inset soap-and-shampoo nook enhance the sensation of continuity. Even the lighting is carefully planned so it doesn’t interrupt the smooth expanses of stone: The art-gallery fixtures above the vanity sit back into a cutout slot.
Project Credits: Builder: Webb Construction, San Francisco; Architect/Interior designer: Ogrydziak/Prillinger Architects, San Francisco; Project size: 185 square feet; Construction cost: Withheld; Photographer: Ikonphoto.
Resources: Fittings/fixtures: Duravit and Kroin; Lighting fixtures: LSI and Vega.
Details The painted MDF vanity drawers and folding doors in this bathroom open to reveal a hidden luxury: cherry interiors. “Historically, there was a time when people put luxurious details on the inside of their clothing,” says architect Luke Ogrydziak. To recall that era of private indulgence, he placed the high-end finish where only the owners can see it.
