Roots Run Deep
A home’s story begins with the land.
Words by Jessi Devenyns Photos by Casey Dunn
Like arms draping upward to protect a bare head from rain, the walls of John Hart Asher and Bonnie Evridge’s East Austin home soar upward, letting in light, space, air, and nature while offering a protective roof to its inhabitants. Cantilevered between two trees that have seen generations of families live below, the Asher-Evridge home is a monument in connection to nature.
John Hart Asher who works in ecological landscape and restoration at the LBJ Wildflower Center explains that the design for this home was planted as seed in graduate school where he became interested in designers who worked to blur the role of house and yard. Nearly a decade later, his passion for blending home and environment came to its apex when he worked with his old friend Robert Gay, founder of Thoughtbarn, to create a home where he adds, “we responded to the site versus making the site bend to the will of the house.”
In response to the undulations and vegetation of the site, Asher worked with Gay to allow the structure to find its place on the third of an acre lot by sectioning the living space from the bedrooms by forming a “L” that slides between a stately American Elm and a seasoned pecan tree, which Asher says he never even considered uprooting. Having the layout designed in this way provides a natural cooling canopy, which, when coupled with foam insulation and overhanging eves, permits family life to be lived outdoors as much as in. “We always wanted to be connected,” he explains.
Not only is this young family connected to their land through their large decks and expansive windows, but they are fused to the history of the property through their unique choices in construction materials. Prior to the modern 1600 square foot home that sits on the property today, Asher lived in a 700 square foot abode that had been haphazardly added onto throughout the years. Although he says he was fond of the home, when the couple’s first child arrived, he knew that staying in that space would no longer be feasible. However, because of the generations of life who had lived in the home, he explains that he “wanted to take that energy and put it into the [new] house as well.” Plus, he adds, “We’re very environmentally minded so, as opposed to just tearing it down, there was the sustainability aspect of trying to recycle the house.” Through repurposing the old pine floorboards and the majority of the joists from the original structure, Asher was able to integrate the old home into the new and bridge the stories of two families much in the same way as the home’s design bridges the inside with the outdoors.
Admittedly, he says that remaining committed to the ecological approach was not cheap, but the result reminds him that upholding his values and commitment to nature was not a futile exercise. In fact, he smiles when he shares that the home he envisioned from lofty ideals is a down-to-earth structure that everyone can enjoy—including his five year old son. “That’s just a complete manifestation of good design that a five year old can look at that and just gets it. You don’t have to be an architectural theorist or critic to appreciate it.”
Contact:
Thoughtbarn
(512) 386-1579
4805 Red Bluff Road, Studio A
thoughtbarn.com
