Worth the Wait

Details: Point of Entry

Paul Bardagjy In a house full of well-built details, the first one most people see is the pivoting front door. Custom-made of stainless steel and vertical-grain Douglas fir, the oversized door signals to visitors the high level of design that awaits them inside. “The pivot action makes for a memorable entry experience, priming you to look for other special details in the house,” says architect Philip Keil.

Climate conditions in Austin, Texas, allow for nearly year-round outdoor living. A layered back patio and pool area orchestrate a wide variety of experiences—some sun-kissed, others sheltered in the shade. ? Casey Dunn The 4-foot-wide door takes up less space when it’s open than a conventionally hinged door would, but its size stands up to the scale of the 5,500-square-foot house. And its main materials reappear on the interiors, contributing to the sense of continuity between indoors and out.

Builder David Dalgleish says he, project superintendent Nick Cervenka, and their co-workers viewed the door’s fabrication as a chance to fully display their considerable carpentry and metalworking skills. “Both my people and the craftsmen put a lot of time into it,” he recalls. “It was a labor of love.”

The Builder: Design Advocate When David Dalgleish notices a trend, it can take the rest of the country a few years to catch up. Like coastal California, his home base of Austin, Texas, is a design-savvy market whose consumer preferences can eventually become widely popular.

Over the past decade, Dalgleish has observed a shift toward house quality over house quantity. “There’s been an investment in craftsmanship rather than size,” he says. “People want authentic craft and are willing to pay for details like [those in the Terrace House].” Now the desire for smaller houses is gaining traction all over. Dalgleish thinks it has more to do with the ever-increasing pace of life than with economic factors—at the high end, anyway. “When you come home from work, you want a house that’s pleasing to your soul,” he points out. Also, he notes, “it’s easier to manage a 4,000-square-foot house than a 10,000-square-foot house.”

He believes hiring an architect is a key step in getting the house you want, and lobbies hard for those (such as Gary Furman and Philip Keil) whose work and professionalism he admires. “Gary and Philip are a good investment for the owner to make,” he says. Recently he even took out advertising in local magazines promoting Austin architecture firms, including Furman + Keil. His company’s information was listed at the bottom of the ads, which made him more comfortable than putting it front and center. “Promoting yourself, you feel like a vacuum cleaner salesman,” he says. But “if these architects we work with are always busy, we’re always going to have work,” he adds.

His instincts seem to be serving him well. Dalgleish Construction Co. currently boasts a full workload, at a time when many custom builders are struggling to keep busy.