Eco Friendly Home Lake Travis Retreat in Texas by Dick Clark
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The Lake Travis Retreat set to be a family home where family and friends can spend precious free time enjoying one another and the beauty of the Highland Lakes setting. The most gestural element of the house is a raised, copper clad pavilion with transparent walls facing south toward the neighborhood and north toward the courtyard and lake.
The butterfly shape of the roof dramatically casts off rainwater through an oversized scupper, an external reference to the series of seven water features found inside the walls of the retreat. The courtyard offers two points of entry: when the large wooden gate is rolled in to the open position below the pavilion, the house invites visitors to come in through this primary pathway. A second gate is found by following a linear water feature that starts along the east edge of the sandstone wall. Not visible from the street, this entry provides a more intimate arrival into the courtyard.
Exterior walls, made of sandstone, were assembled through a drystack method, in which no mortar was used. The result is a monolithic form in which the warn tones of the stone are ever variable under the changing conditions of natural light. When gallery walls open, the two courtyards become one continuous space, perfect for parties. (A steel frame butterfy roof in the lakeside courtyard makes it possible to fire up the outdoor grill, even when it is raining). The lakeside courtyard, including the trees preserved during construction, ameliorate the slope of the site. Drawing subtle influence from Japanese garden practices, the shifts in elevation are defined and integrated by areas of softscape, areas of hardscape and a linear water feature. The final water feature in the series of seven brings together the family’s love of water and social activity: a jacuzzi large enough to accommodate twelve people and offering an outstanding view of the lake.
The kitchen is conceived with the idea that cooking and the enjoyment of meals are participatory activities. A large table extends perpendicularly from the island cooktop, providing a place for informal dining or buffet style service. By creating four distinct (and different sized) seating areas for meal-taking in the living area and kitchen, indoor dining can be easily set for two or an assembled group of twenty, all sharing and interacting in the same space. Bedrooms are located in the long wing to the west, while more social activities take place in the courtyards or in the kitchen and other living spaces in the east wing of the house.- Dick Clark Architecture
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