A Texas couple spent more than four years and over $7 million creating a house that blends two distinct architectural styles. The result: a property that helps tell the story of Austin.
High on a hill above the trees, but within walking distance of downtown, sits a house that epitomizes the city of Austin’s radical transformation.
On one side, it is a simple, white, traditional craftsman with columns and a dormer, facing a still-funky, historic neighborhood. On the other side, it is a glass-lined contemporary with a low-sloped roof, an infinity pool and a view over the“You wake up and you know where you are,” says Sylvia Sharplin, 58, a real-estate agent who renovated and built the 3,600-square-foot, four-bedroom house with her husband, Dan Sharplin, 58, an entrepreneur.
It took the Sharplins more than four years, over $7 million, and lots of tea to create their new home. It started in 2015, when their youngest daughter was a senior in high school. They wanted to replace their large house in the Austin suburbs with something smaller within walking distance of stores and restaurants. They wanted to buy in Clarksville, a neighborhood west of downtown, where they lived when they moved in 1986 from Monroe, La., to the University of Texas at Austin for graduate school.