The single-story Pemberton Residence is a counter-proposal to the immodest new houses and enormous additions that have overwhelmed the fabric of this once coherent neighborhood in the center of Austin, Texas. Modestly tucked in between the gables of the neighboring houses, this house revels in a dynamic interior world.
Built for empty nesters trading empty bedrooms for proximity to downtown restaurants and live music venues, the Pemberton Residence looks to lessons learned from Joseph Eichler’s homes of Northern California in creating a wonderful interior environment, connected to the out-of-doors and activated by light and shadow. Here, rooms are caught between three carefully calibrated courtyards to provide a sense of openness and privacy, despite the constrained circumstances – and made dynamic by the curving oak-clad forms at the front and rear of the home.