Home is Where the Heart Is
Two travel guides turn their home into another adventure
Words by Jessi Devenyns Photos by Ashley Haguewood
On a corner lot at the north end of Cherrywood is a white house that contains more windows than walls. Originally a show house for the expanding East Austin Cherrywood neighborhood, Blake and Adam Sparks’ mid-century home hasn’t lost any of its exemplary style over the last 80 years.
When the young couple bought their home at age 25, neither had any idea what to expect. Formerly the home of an octogenarian, the bright eyed and bushy tailed pair found themselves faced with a home in desperate need of renovation. Unfortunately, as tour guides, neither of them had any experience in the field other than knowing that there was a Home Depot up the street. “It needed a lot of love,” remembers Adam. “It still had a lot of the original 1940s things—for good and for bad.” The bad included a shower that Blake describes as an amenity that seemed designed for a battleship. It was so cramped that “I couldn’t even take a shower!” she exclaims.
The good, however, was laid in the foundation. Sloping walls cut through the house creating a curious, narrow silhouette that seems to flow with the windows to optimize natural light. Despite being narrow, the rooms are open with the only fully closed rooms being the bedrooms. In the living spaces, you’re left with the sensation of floating in an aquarium through which you can watch the world.
Although beautiful, reaching the home’s current design, Adam admits, was a precarious DIY project. “This house has been an experiment. I wish I had another house now because I’ve learned how to do floors, I’ve learned how to use a jackhammer, I’ve learned how to do all these different things,” he explains. Blake sees things otherwise saying, “It’s all very not professional. We weren’t really ready.”
She relates an episode where they were replacing a window mid-December, one of the few that’s not original in the house, and when the window came in the wrong size, they were left to hang a blue tarp over the gaping hole and hope the new one came quickly. Adam laughs as he recalls when they “washed all [their] pots and pans in the bathtub” while giving new life to the kitchen.
Another trial they faced was installing their sliding glass door. They had barely loaded up the doors from Home Depot when they realized that they lacked the manpower to put them in. “As we were driving home, there were some guys in the park, and we stopped and asked them if they could help us put it in,” remembers Adam. Even with the extra muscle, Adam admits that it was still a struggle.
In fact, according to him, the entire six-year project could qualify as a foolish undertaking. Blake is kinder in saying that “I think we were probably just naïve.” However, she explains that the slow pace of renovations had its benefits. Due to financial and temporal restrictions, Blake laments that much of her original design plan had to be scrapped. Despite having her initial ideas unrealized, she concedes that it was a blessing in disguise. The delay has allowed her to select the exact right piece for every room as she roams the globe with their travel company. “Every piece that we have, I really love,” she smiles.
And the love put into the restoration shines through. So much care has been put into this 1947 home’s rehabilitation that Adam says he’s never leaving. “If I have my way, I’ll never move,” he effuses. “I like that we built it, I love the neighborhood, and I love Austin.”
Blake and Adam own Sofia Travel Company, a boutique tour company that offers personalized trips to Italy and Greece. Adam, whose family is from Greece, specializes in classical architecture and leads every tour along with Blake. sofiatravel.org
