Published in 2024

Commentary on culture and architecture for EASTside Magazine, Texas Architect, and others.

Evolution in Motion: Curb Appeal & Bold Ideals

Architects Jose Minguell and Laura McQuary consider their home on Canterbury Street a lifelong project, its thoughtful design merely the latest chapter in an unfolding story, responsive to the shifting needs of a family of four.

Deep In The Heart: Dude Ranch Meets Hollywood Backlot

The production lights are big and bright, or will be soon, according to Alton, founder of production company Line 204.

Vibes & Virtues: Christen Ales Interior Design

Tulum-inspired interiors blend bold patterns, natural light, and rich, earthy tones, achieving a colorful and luxurious aesthetic fit for vacationers and stay-cationers, alike.

Published in 2023

Commentary on culture and architecture for EASTside Magazine, Texas Architect, and others.

Mulling Mueller: Tarmacs and Town Homes

Decades after going all-in on new urbanism, East Austin’s largest planned neighborhood has finally landed.

These Walls Talk: The Evolution of Austin Street Art

East Austin’s emergence as a catalyst for evocative, identity-based public art is no accident. It’s the latest chapter in a story that has unfolded over the last 70+ years.

Light Touch

A modest mid-century home in Windsor Park receives a gentle renovation and expansion, breathing light and outdoor views into its smart, art-filled interiors.

An East 6th Oasis: Top-Down Approach

Bold and airy interiors bookend a lush, outdoor enclave for a growing family of four.

Soul Purpose: The Revival of Uptown Sports Club

Gumbo and po’ boys lead a rich menu with casual, all-day service in an historic and thoughtfully revitalized building on the corner of East 6th and Waller streets.

Surreal Deal

Under the oppressive heat of the Texas summer, artist T.R. Rodriquez is an early riser. At 5:00 am, she starts her day with a cup of coffee and crosses her lush backyard enclave into her painting studio, lovingly built by her husband, Jonny.

Palette Perfect

Since opening the doors of his architecture practice nearly ten years ago, Davey McEathron has designed an impressive collection of thoughtful and striking homes throughout Austin.

House Zero: Ready, Set, Print

A timeless and thought-provoking home in Holly artfully boasts a breakthrough in sustainable construction.

Rising Action: Architect Nicole Blair

A lofty addition takes flight over an existing bungalow for a Rosewood couple seeking studio space without sacrificing their yard and luscious gardens.

Living Legacy: An All New Veracruz

A renowned family of restaurateurs with a reputation for delighting taste buds has opened a new brick-and-mortar location, offering an expanded food and drink menu imbued with three generations of traditional craft.

The Pharaohs’ Pitmaster: KG BBQ

Kareem El-Ghayesh of KG BBQ has delivered one of East Austin’s most popular new menus, offering classic Texas barbecue fused with an Egyptian twist. 

Original Spin

An unpretentious East 6th record shop offers more than meets the ears.

Published in 2022

Architectural commentary and lifestyle content for EASTside Magazine, Texas Architect, and others.

Something’s Brewing at Brew & Brew

An Eastside institution eyes a new era after building community in an ever-changing neighborhood.

Makers & Shakers

Meet the Broad Squad: a collective of female artists providing an invaluable platform for emerging local artists, educators, and their communities.

When Less is More: An Elegant ADU

A young family’s timeless ADU is thoughtfully designed with their neighbors in mind.

A Renovated Austin Home Serves as an Urban Respite

Eight years in the making, a sensitively renovated property lies hidden in plain sight on Bolm Road. Its creatively curated spaces for living and working are modest and serene, reflecting the character of its creator.

Innovative Home Design: CoXist Studio’s Zig Zag Home

A creative home maximizes privacy, light, outdoor space, and a strong connection to the neighborhood community.

Wide Open Spaces: East Austin’s Patterson Park

Over 80 years since its founding, Patterson Park continues to endear itself to generations of East Austinites.

Character Building: The ‘Guesthouse East’ Remodel

Brimming with personality, this sensitive and bright remodel of a 1920s boarding home brings a modern touch to an old-Austin gem.

Brew Crew: The Front Page

In Govalle’s bustling Springdale General complex, this casual neighborhood hangout offers a full bar and New York-style sandwiches to a growing community of regulars.

Published in 2021

Architectural commentary and lifestyle content for EASTside Magazine, Texas Architect, and others.

Austin Activism Amplified: Allies Against Slavery

This local nonprofit supports communities statewide by leveraging the power of technology, data, and a coalition of partnerships to eradicate human trafficking.

Wendy Wan’s Wanderlust: Asian Fusion Eats

Not all food trailers are created equal, and at the northwest corner of Cesar Chavez and Pleasant Valley stands a delicious and underrated testament to that fact.

Midcentury Magnified: Shannon Eddings Interiors

Shannon Eddings sensitively expands her family’s modest midcentury home, creating breathable space imbued with the bold personalty and expert craft of her practice.

Nouveau Industrial

Strolling South Congress to peruse its quirky boutiques and shady brunch spots has become an Austin experience as typical as counting cranes on the skyline or languishing in traffic on the upper deck of I-35.

Go Big or Go Tiny Home: Community First! Village

“Welcome to my man cave!” Jesse says with a grin from his recliner as he flips between channels on his TV.

Published in 2020

Architectural commentary and lifestyle content for EASTside Magazine, Texas Architect, and others.

Outside In: Pavonetti Architecture

A thoughtful and bright expansion to a 1950’s ranch home in Cherrywood takes its cues from a tree-filled lot and a veteran design and build team.

Sleep Well, Do Good.

A cherished boutique hotel looks toward a careful, limited reopening after paying staff for months of local volunteering during the COVID-19 shutdown.

Keeping it Simple

When homeowner Royce Flournoy approached Elizabeth Baird to design a home on his family’s land in Rosewood, he came prepared with a list of parameters.

Seeing the Light

A narrow lot featuring a protected pecan tree became an ideal canvas for architect, Jen Brannon, and client-contractor, Nathan Button, to realize a humble, spacious, and daylight-filled single-family home.

State of the ARTS

In a year with little precedent, four artists embody the enduring spirit of Austin’s art community.

Birds of a Feather: Bird Bird Biscuit

As head chef, general manager, and co-owner of Bird Bird Biscuit, Brian Batch is accustomed to wearing many hats, but his passion lies behind the griddle serving up and fine-tuning some of East Austin’s most adored breakfast and lunch sandwiches.

Over the Odds: Brewing Community with Craft

It’s an odd time to visit Oddwood Ales, yet a quick glance around the eclectic and cozy taproom reveals a scene that has played out in bars and restaurants across the country since the COVID-19 crisis forced establishments to shutter indefinitely.

Community Spirit: La Holly

La Holly isn’t just another trendy Eastside watering hole. With an affordable and highly curated cocktail menu, owner Simon Madera has carefully crafted an intimate venue inspired by their Tejano neighborhood.

J. Fisher Interiors: Modern Eclecticism

Jennifer Fisher’s self-styled Eastside bungalow is an ever-evolving canvas resonant with the eclectic charm that defines her professional work.

Where the Heart Is

After growing up in Louisiana before later bouncing between New York and Boston, Lindsay Olinde was looking for a bit of nostalgic, southern charm when she and her husband, Joseph, found their way to Austin in 2008.

Faye and Walker Architecture’s Color Trail

On a sunny weekend in October, under the dappled light of several sprawling oaks, Sean Guess, AIA, of Faye and Walker Architecture watched as his latest completed project, “Color Trail,” was overrun by a small army of children and their parents.

Waterloo Greenway Stages Sixth Annual Creek Show

Waterloo Greenway (formerly Waller Creek Conservancy) welcomed a record-setting 60,000 guests to its 6th Annual Creek Show.

Published in 2019

Architectural commentary and lifestyle content for EASTside Magazine, Texas Architect, and others.

Sixthriver Designs Community-Oriented Facility for Austin Classical Radio Station

Many Austinites could be forgiven for failing to recognize their own public, classical radio station. Despite being an institution whose legacy dates back to 1967, Austin’s KMFA 89.5 has largely flown under the radar.

T.V. Eye

The Fox News Deck made its television debut on October 7, 2013, when host — and respected journalist — Shepard “Shep” Smith stood before a camera and declared his show to be the beginning of a “live broadcast revolution.”

Waller Creek Conservancy Stages Fifth Annual Creek Show

For the fifth time in as many years, artists, architects, and Austinites alike descended the banks of Waller Creek to experience “Creek Show,” an annual display of temporary light installations commissioned by the Waller Creek Conservancy.

Published in 2018

Architectural commentary and lifestyle content for EASTside Magazine, Texas Architect, and others.

Austin Gets Its First Composite Cross-Laminated Timber Structure

The site on East 6th Street just one block east of Interstate 35 is one of many patches of dirt undergoing rapid development in Austin today.

Design Awards 2018: West Lynn Studio

As Baldridge Architects sought to relocate its office in Austin, the firm settled on a location within the charming residential neighborhood of Clarksville.

Waller Creek Conservancy Stages Fourth Annual Creek Show

For nine nights in November, Austin was once again illuminated by the temporary light-based and site-specific art installations of “Creek Show.”

How the Broadcast Industry is Influencing the Workplace

In today’s digital landscape, every business is a producer of media, whether it’s content for social media channels or internal video for corporate communications.

Robot Learning

Visitors to the School of Architecture at The University of Texas at Austin may have been at first puzzled, albeit dazzled, by the sight of the exhibition that greeted them in the Mebane Gallery for three weeks in April.

Design Awards 2018: Lamar Union

As urban centers throughout Texas continue to be affected by the ever-evolving role of the automobile, jurors gravitated toward Lamar Union as an example of responsible redevelopment.

Creature Prep

In the 1960s, America embraced the tenets of modernism, giving rise to suburban schools with open floor plans, natural lighting, increased ventilation, and technology in classrooms.

Published in 2017

Architectural commentary and lifestyle content for EASTside Magazine, Texas Architect, and others.

The Hills

Nestled into the side of a hill and buried deep within an upscale, sprawling, and generally uninteresting suburban Austin neighborhood lies Casa de las Lomas, a showstopper of a home, at once exotic and profoundly Texan.

Waller Folly

On most nights, an evening spent strolling the banks of Austin’s Waller Creek offers the chance to appreciate one of the many pockets of the city that is undergoing a rapid transition.

UT Austin Professor Clay Odom’s ‘Flowering Phantasm’ Featured in Paris

The gallery is intimate and dimly lit, its periphery a little unclear as one’s eyes adjust to the space. A low rumbling fills the room, the sound overlapping onto itself in a vaguely familiar, mechanical cadence. Or is it biological?

Lessons from the Coast

It’s an overcast, April morning and Coleman Coker is crouched low, peering over the edge of a small platform that floats in the saltwater marshlands of Sea Rim State Park.

Published in 2016

Architectural commentary and lifestyle content for EASTside Magazine, Texas Architect, and others.

Go Down, Pump Jack

“I just don’t know, man. A lot of us are real worried. Just look out there and tell me how many jacks you see stopped.” Andy pauses to wipe the grease from his hands before continuing.

Published in 2015

Architectural commentary and lifestyle content for EASTside Magazine, Texas Architect, and others.

Big Ideas

About seven miles southeast of San Antonio, near the intersection of Interstate 37 and SE Military Drive – at the entrance to Brooks City Base – is an emblem of the history of flight.

Published in 2014

Architectural commentary and lifestyle content for EASTside Magazine, Texas Architect, and others.

Ten Eyck’s Vertical Gardens

It’s about 20 paces from the sidewalk to the glassy entrance of the Livestrong Foundation’s corporate headquarters in East Austin, but even in that short distance, people are often over-come by a great temptation to simply sit and stay awhile.