House on Lake Travis

A lakeside house finished in a single family of reds, from lacquered panelling to plaster and linen, with the water in every room.

Type: Residential
Location: Lake Travis, Texas
Scope: Interiors and terrace for a lakeside family home

Living room with deep red panelled walls, a cream bouclé sofa, rose velvet chairs, a round rug and tall windows onto the lake

Travertine, plaster and linen in one deep, warm palette

Every main room in the house looks onto the lake, so the interiors were designed to hold their own against the view without competing with it. We chose one colour family, deep reds through to soft rose, and let the materials carry the variation: painted panelling, hand-finished plaster, glazed tile, velvet, bouclé and linen.

The floors and the heavier surfaces are stone. Travertine runs underfoot from the kitchen out to the terrace, so the house reads as one continuous plane down to the water. Stone was chosen for how long it lasts: it can be re-honed instead of replaced.

Upholstery is kept to a few sculptural pieces, and the terrace furniture sits on heavy timber bases made to weather outdoors.

Kitchen in deep red with veined stone counters and splashback, amber glass on open shelves and four sculptural stools, with the lake through the window

A travertine console with a fluted arched base against a deep red wall, holding a plum glass vase and a small bronze sculpture, with a rose velvet chair in front and the lake and hills beyond the glass

Library with red built-in shelves, a curving rose bouclé sofa on a travertine floor and a wall of steel-framed glass onto reeds and water

Bathroom with rose plaster walls, a niche of glazed red tiles, a freestanding sculpted bath and floor-to-ceiling glass onto the lake and pines

Bedroom with a red velvet headboard, rose linen bedding, a pleated lamp and sliding glass doors open to the water

Stone terrace with red cushioned daybeds on timber bases, olive trees in pots and the hills and lake beyond

Built to last

Stone, plaster and timber make up most of the house: hard, lasting surfaces that can be re-honed, patched or refinished 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.

Travertine
Why we chose it
Natural stone used for floors, the console and the terrace. It lasts the life of the house and can be re-honed rather than replaced.
Hand-finished plaster
Why we chose it
Used in the bathroom and bedrooms so the colour has depth, and so walls can be patched rather than repainted.
Painted panelling
Why we chose it
Walls, shelving and cabinetry in one deep red, so each room reads as a single colour.
Linen bedding
Why we chose it
Linen softens with washing and lasts for years.

Built to last

Materials and sourcing

Travertine

Hand-finished plaster

Painted panelling

Linen bedding