Austin architects Annie-Laurie Grabiel and Arthur Furman, founders of the award winning firm Side Angle Side, purchased their 1939, slab on grade bungalow for multiple reasons – the wide lot, the live oak tree in the front yard, and the natural light that poured through the home. It also happens to be three houses down from where Arthur grew up in Travis Heights. Photography by Casey Dunn.

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What started as a dishwasher addition to the kitchen snowballed into a full-blown renovation. “The original home did not have a dishwasher, and so naturally, we had been planning a kitchen remodel from the moment we moved in. Thing is, being two architects, we continued to design and redesign various schemes and then put them aside for a spell and then we would resume with new ideas and that went on for seven years!” says Annie-Laurie Grabiel, founding principal, Side Angle Side.

The couple started first with the kitchen and bath renovation. As they began dismantling the kitchen cabinets, removing the doors and drawer faces and stacking them on the dining table, they knew this would surely force them to make a plan and actually move forward with the home remodel of their dreams.

Once construction actually began and the family moved out, Annie awoke early one morning with an idea and started sketching. The plan was to bump out across the front of the house, adding a new foyer, new kids’ rooms, family room, and new guest bath. After staring at the plan for a minute, it was obvious they had to do it. The original footprint, at 1900 sq ft, had an H shaped floor plan with courtyards in the front and back. The new design adheres mostly within the existing envelope (slab, exterior walls, roof structure). One exception is where they added seven feet across the entire front half, measuring an additional 200 sq ft.

“This small addition allowed us to reconfigure the interior plan to add an entire bedroom and bathroom. We reused many of the original steel casement windows. Although we relocated the front door and went with a custom steel pivot door and sidelight,” says Arthur Furman, founding principal, Side Angle Side.

Within the house everything is new – new walls, new wood floors, new plumbing, electrical, AC, new kitchen, baths, etc. One of the important aspects of the renovation, something the architects like to employ with client renovations, was to salvage and reuse as much as possible in keeping with the home’s integrity. Many of the original steel casement windows were kept and relocated. The home’s exterior cedar shake was updated in Sherwin Williams, PepperCorn. Annie chose “fleur de lis” Saltillo tile for the entry, kitchen, and baths.

Once back in the house, they recognized aspects that were still missing from the design. This was an outdoor area and swimming pool. They added an extension onto the existing gable roof off the end of the kitchen. Adding a pool on this lot was challenging because the rear half of the site sloped up more than ten feet toward the back. In order to add the pool and hot tub, they had to excavate and incorporate terraces and retaining walls.

“Perhaps the biggest challenge was just the fact that we are both architects and this is our own personal home. When it’s for us, we often seem to overthink things and get paralyzed in indecision. Ironically, in our hurry to complete the project we forgot to plan in a dishwasher. Just kidding!” says Annie.

Project Architects: Arthur Furman and Annie-Laurie Grabiel, Side Angle Side
Builder: Waller Building Co
Structural Engineer: Fort Structures
Lighting design: John Bell
Landscape consultant: Campbell Landscape Architecture