In the spirit of reuse and recycle, architect/owner Al York stripped his 1935 house down to the bones, meticulously cleaned the pieces and used them to reconstruct a more usable home that still captures some of the decades-old charm of its predecessor. Part of the reuse policy included saving the quirky roof with its intersecting gables.
York saw that by splitting up the awkward spaces formed by the existing roof, a house within a house could be created and dedicated to a second-story children’s suite with central playroom, tucked-away sleeping nooks, and a quiet study area. An abstract version of the home’s façade serves as a clever divider that unites as much as it separates. Toys can be stacked in the mock chimney and deep niches of the false windows. The bedrooms consist of beds on raised platforms recessed into cozy dormers. The same warm colors in the rest of the house are used here more playfully. “We wanted them to have their own rooms, but we didn’t want them to feel shut away from us,” says York. He designed a spiral stair that winds gently from the master bedroom up to a wide open landing and allows the little ones to lean out their “window” to see below. A laundry chute also doubles as an excellent communication device for calling down to Mommy and Daddy. Builder: Woodeye Construction, Austin; Architect: McKinney Architects, Austin; Photographer: Al York.
