Beguiling Tile

Lost Barton Kitchen, Austin, Texas

Grand, best kitchen in a single-family detached custom home—over 5,000 square feet Special Focus, wall treatment

This bachelor kitchen spared no expense when it came to the good stuff. Its high-performance appliances (including three fridges, two dishwashers, a six-burner range, and double ovens) are ergonomically grouped into three functional work zones—prep, cook, clean up. Cherry and glass ­cabinets, granite countertops, xenon under-counter lighting, a hammered copper range hood, and honed travertine floors round out its palette of delectable finishes. It even has a 5-foot-by-13-foot built-in fish tank.

But the space’s defining feature and tour de force is a captivating mosaic constructed almost entirely of tile remnants, which interior designer Jackie Depew sourced from various tile purveyors about town. More than a backsplash, the funky composition, which is mortared onto backerboard, spreads to the ceiling and wraps corners, turning the entire kitchen into an art installation. Hand-cut bricks of thin-coat limestone around the edges suggest a structural wall that has crumbled away to reveal hidden treasure.

The tile collage is a provocative but fitting conceit inside this 14,000-square-foot, Tuscan-style home in the Texas hill country, which winds around a 40-foot knoll and assumes the exterior appearance of a medieval walled city. The kitchen has a secret stair passage leading to twin underground wine cellars (one for whites, the other for reds).

“The client just let us run wild,” says ­architect Bob Wetmore. “Everything in the house plays on the unexpected. The owner fortunately is a very creative person. And we never talked about budget.”

Entrant/Architect: CGA Partners, Austin, Texas; Builder: Heritage Custom Homes, Austin; Interior designer: Depew Design Interiors, Austin