The annual Cool House Tour hosted by the Texas Solar Energy Society (TXSES) in conjunction with Austin Energy Green Building Program is this Sunday, June 5 from 10:00 am – 6:00 pm. Tickets are available at both Austin Central Market locations for $17 ($15 +$2 service charge) or at all homes on the day of the tour for $15. Visit the TXSES website – txses.org – for more information. Click here for: Online Tour Guide. Photo above courtesy of Travis Young of Studio Momentum who has two homes on the tour this year.

LEED Accredited Professionals: The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has approved the tour for GBCI continuing education hours! For each house you visit on the tour, you will be able to earn 1 GBCI CE hour, up to 8 hours. To document the hours, there will be sign-in sheets at each home. For more info, email liana.kallivoka@austinenergy.com. Spread the word.

Hope to see you there!

Another of my projects that has received some press recently – Birdlip Residence. Happy to have worked with such a great project team!

Click here for PDF cover story:  Austin / San Antonio Urban Home – April/May 2011 Cover Story.

Last weekend, the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin held its annual MAX Awards Gala to honor those who made significant and creative contributions in residential home building through specific achievements during 2010. I was honored with the award for Best Product Design $150,000 – $250,000 for the MILHouse 2.0. I was also a finalist in the following categories:  Best Product Design $750,000 – $1,000,000 (Birdlip Residence), Best One-of-a-Kind Home, Best Green Home, Affordable Green Home, Green Built by Design, Best Kitchen – Custom Builder, Best Master Bath – Custom Builder.

All of my work that was recognized was done in collaboration with Foursquare Builders – to whom I owe a special thanks. Foursquare also took awards for their advertising campaigns created by Chris Minor (who also assisted me with the MILHouse 2.0), Construction Manager of the Year (Matt Carswell who built both the MILHouse 2.0 and Birdlip Residence) and for Custom Home Builder of the Year (Wes Wigginton, Foursquare Builders). This shows the importance of selecting and working with great teammates. I would also like to thank my clients Richard, Claudia, Michael and Pat for your trust – without you none of this would be possible.

Finally, since I was not able to give a speech, I would like to thank my wife Debora for her encouragement and constructive criticism of every project I do. I would be remiss not to acknowledge that all of my best ideas come from her (dangit!). Have I mentioned that it is very important to work with great teammates?

The complete list of MAX Award winners can be found here: http://hbaaustin.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=775

I am getting stoked about the Modern Home Tour this Saturday. All of the exterior touchup work has been completed at the MILHouse and I will be completing the interior tomorrow. A big part of the interior will be the addition of artwork and, once again, a local artist has volunteered to have their work placed in the MILHouse.

This is the third event held at this venue and the third collection of art that has graced its spaces. I love that art has contributed so significantly to the space and I am very excited about this collection by Darvin Jones. You can find out more about Darvin’s work on his website, blog or Facebook page.

There will also be food by Me So Hungry and beverage by Elixer Coffeeavailable on site for your refreshment. I suggest you start your day at 6800 Caudill Lane (house #1), the westernmost home on the tour and a will call location. You can end your day at 7308 Annette Cove (house #15), a home I designed while at FAB Architecture and the easternmost home on the tour. Incidentally, 7308 is also a will call location so you could start there and end at 6800 – either way, you start and finish with very solid projects, IMHO.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

I am pleased to report that the MILHouse has been selected for the 2011 Modern Home Tour. Presented by Art Institute of Austin, the tour is Saturday, February 5, 2011 from 11:00 am – 6:00 pm. The MILHouse is located on the family compound at 6800 Caudill Lane (#1 on the list). The property consists of the Main House, designed by David Webber, AIA of Webber + Studio, and the guest house (actually a Mother-In-Law House, aka MILHouse), designed by Thoughtcrib. Both homes were constructed by Foursquare Builders. I will be at the MILHouse for the duration of the tour if you would like a personal tour or have any questions. I look forward to seeing you there.

I also designed the home at 7308 Annette Cove (in Agave, #15 on the list) while I was at FAB Architecture . This home was recently updated by Roger Hazard, host of the A&E television series “Sell This House” and featured in the Austin American Statesman.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, Thoughtcrib entered the Free Green Who’s Next 2.0 design competition. After a coffee-fueled all-nighter, Thoughtcrib’s entry was submitted for first round judging. All entries will be made available for viewing in early January during the first round of judging. From that round of judging 50 finalists will be selected (from 386 total entries) and their entries will be posted for public voting. Public voting is scheduled to begin January 16 and I will certainly be asking for your vote should Thoughtcrib make the cut.

I feel confident in the design we created for the competition – a very gracious home of 1,518 square feet which includes 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 living spaces and a wraparound porch. The presentation we put together is very nice and includes a variety of line drawings, model views (above) and renderings. Special props to Chris Minor for his mad skills – he made it pop!

BUILDER Magazine’s Favorite Houses of 2010 included the MILhouse designed by Thoughtcrib, Inc. You can read more here: http://www.builderonline.com/design/10-great-houses-of-2010.aspx?page=4. Special thanks to my client for their trust and to the builder, Foursquare Builders, for making this possible.

If you are not familiar with the MILHouse concept, see the Projects page of my website – thoughtcrib.com. MILHouse 2.0 has been completed and is now occupied by the client. MILHouse III concepts are currently underway – two variations have 3 bedrooms under 1,600 square feet. While MILHouse (1 & 2.0) can serve as accessory dwellings, the three bedroom version can easily serve as a primary home in the city or country.

This holiday season has been a busy one at Thoughtcrib. Since the last post to this blog (on Thanksgiving!), I have continued experimenting and updating Thoughtcrib’s social media presence. While this has hindered blog entries, I now have more ways to communicate with you and get feedback from you.

• You can now follow Thoughtcrib on Twitter: @Thoughtcrib.
• Blog has been refreshed and integrated into thoughtcrib.com
• Thoughtcrib.com has been relaunched!

Projects which are currently in the office include a new home in Guanajuato, Mexico, a pool cabana/garage on an M Street in Dallas, TX and a renovation in Austin, TX. Further, Thoughtcrib is entered into the Free Green Who’s Next 2.0 design competition and will be completing our submission this week.

On a personal note, I have been enjoying the holiday season in and around Austin with the family. The photo above is from the annual Sing-Along at the Texas Capitol. I did not do much singing, however, as I was involved in Texas style tobogganing with hundreds of other children and their parents (I’ll post a video soon). Oh what fun!

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

This weekend you can peruse the studios and artwork of Eastside artists during the annual East Austin Studio Tour. Studio spaces will be open this (and next) weekend from 11:00 – 6:00. More info at http://eastaustinstudiotour.com/.

I will be taking my son who, miraculously, is very patient and well-behaved during such exhibitions. Perhaps he is well-behaved because the art engages and allows him to express his curiosity/creativity – unlike a grocery store, a restaurant, etc. Personally, I find his engagement the most interesting thing on display, no disrespect to the artists. I also love the smell of the an artist’s studio (or an architecture studio) as it is, in my experience, universal. And possibly carcinogenic. But I digress…

Have a great weekend – the weather is perfect!
Hope to see you there.