House in Barton Hills

Two colours, bottle green and coral, carried through plaster, timber and stone in a house that opens onto its garden on every side.

Type: Residential
Location: Barton Hills, Austin
Scope: Interiors for a family home

Living room with deep green plaster walls, a curved coral velvet sofa, a large coral and green painting, a stone sculpture and a terrazzo floor in raking sunlight

Hand-applied plaster, terrazzo floors, solid timber stair and joinery

The house opens onto the garden on almost every side, through tall, finely divided windows. We used the green of the planting as the main colour, drenching the living room, hall and study walls in a deep hand-applied plaster, and set it against coral and blush in the rooms where the light is warmest.

One floor runs through the whole ground level: terrazzo flecked with the same two colours, so the palette continues underfoot from room to room. The stair is solid timber, cantilevered from the wall, and the desk, shelving and benches are made from the same warm wood.

Upholstery is kept to a few sculptural pieces, so the plaster, timber and terrazzo carry the rooms.

Dining room with blush plaster walls and arches, a glossy deep green ceiling, a round stone table, coral chairs and a glass bubble pendant

Green plaster wall with timber shelves, a stone object and a coral vase of dried stems in a shaft of sunlight

Bedroom with blush plaster walls, a green velvet bed with coral linen, a carved timber side table and tall arched windows onto palms

Entrance hall with green plaster walls, a cantilevered solid timber stair, a coral sculpture and a rough timber bench below tall windows

Study with green built-in cabinetry and shelving, a gallery wall, a sculptural timber desk and coral chairs beside garden windows

Built to last

The house is built from a short list of hard, lasting materials: plaster, terrazzo and solid timber. They can be patched, re-polished and re-oiled in place, so the rooms are maintained rather than refitted.

Materials and sourcing

What this project is made of, where it came from and why we chose it. Certifications are listed only where a product carries one.

Hand-applied plaster
Why we chose it
Green and blush walls with the trowel marks left in, so the colour shifts with the light. Plaster can be patched rather than repainted.
Terrazzo flooring
Why we chose it
One floor through the whole ground level, flecked with the house's two colours. Hard-wearing, and it can be re-polished rather than replaced.
Solid timber stair, desk and shelving
Why we chose it
Solid wood can be sanded and re-oiled for decades instead of replaced.
Linen bedding
Why we chose it
Linen softens with washing and lasts for years.

Built to last

Materials and sourcing

Hand-applied plaster

Terrazzo flooring

Solid timber stair, desk and shelving

Linen bedding