Architecture Wednesday: Cliff Dwelling

Although it seems new, this house is a renovation project, and a dangerous one at that since the house is suspended on a narrow limestone ridge halfway down a cliff overlooking Lake Austin.

The original house, built in the 1970s featured an original entry via a dangerous exterior ramp that ran from street down the side of the cliff some 25 feet. Now the house has been reworked, reimagined, and renovated making it habitable for an elderly couple to get in and out and about, while maintaining the drama of the site and the lake views.

One enters the home though a light-filled pavilion that overlooks the lake and opens onto a large rooftop herb garden. A sequence of stairs, and an elevator, descends through the three levels of the house, revealing views of both the lake and the limestone cliff.

Much of the renovation reused materials from the original home, as well as a collection of industrial pieces that belonged to the owners, creating a new, yet reused, and rustic yet urban space from which to view the water below.

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