I Built A Modern Mansion In The Hills Of Austin TX

What’s up y’all? It’s John Gioffre with Revent Builds in Austin, Texas. If you’ve been following along this far, you know that we push the envelope on every single one of our builds. This project is no different. I’m standing on an over 6,000 square-foot soft, modern masterpiece with every amenity you can think of. Not to mention the gym, the sauna, the pool, the elevator, the media room. The list goes on. Come follow along as I give you a full in-depth tour of the house on Westlake Hills.

The Unique Design of The House on Westlake Hills

The House on Westlake Hills is truly one of a kind. It can only be described as a soft, modern mansion. Now, with a house this big, it’s easy to make things look commercial. So here, the trick of this game is shapes, is shifting, is dynamic spaces, is contrast, is marrying different materials and everything is centered around this astounding view. So this being a corner lot can be tricky, but I think we nailed it. What we did is terrace our landscaping with multiple different zones. We have different areas of grass, of lueders stone, of concrete, of bull rock. So again, we’re wanting to add all of these different elements, but they all need to work together. At no point on this property do you feel like something’s missing or something’s overdone. It really all just works together in harmony. The entry of the home, the foyer if you will, is like the introduction to a novel.

A Grand Entrance: Foyer and Formal Living

You don’t want to give too much away, but you want to give a nice little preview of what this home has to offer. There’s a five-foot wide by nine-foot tall, solid cedar door, all inlaid with glass. You open up this massive door and you come right into the foyer, nearly 30-foot-tall ceilings. You see our beautiful, curved staircase. There’s intricate details, a custom steel handrail with lighting underneath. You see beautiful light fixtures above. And most importantly, you look right through, out into the amazing view that is throughout the whole house. You then get to the formal living. Floor to ceiling glass, 20 feet tall. You can really look around and see how cavernous the space is now. Then the next thing you notice is our fireplace. This is an absolute stunner. What I love is the contrast of that curved fireplace surround up top with the hard corner of our marble hearth below.

The Heart of the Home: Main Living and Kitchen

Now, looking from the formal living into the main living and kitchen, you are hit in the face with tons of details. You’re coming down about five stairs that just cascade into this large open area. Walking down the stairs, it almost feels like you’re walking into a ballroom. It has this grand entrance feel. You look over to the main living. The ceiling is lofted about 20 feet, all cladded in cedar tongue and groove. You of course have our expansive glass looking out into the monumental view over into the outdoor living and the covered patio. Even though this whole chamber is quite grand, it really feels very intimate. There’s multiple different places to sit and hang out. We have a floating white oak console shelf under the TV. You could tell this is where you’d gather for like a family game night or to just hang out and watch a movie.

A Chef’s Dream: The Modern Kitchen

What I love about the lofted wood ceiling in this area is it totally separates itself from the dropped ceiling of the kitchen. It makes the kitchen a much more intimate space. When you’re walking from the kitchen into the main living, you could feel that you’re moving into a new space. Now, let’s talk about the kitchen. The biggest feature I think in this whole house is our kitchen island. Taj Mahal quartzite on the top, as well as on the back face of all the cabinets of the kitchen island. The coolest feature here is that the edge of the countertop is mitered to four inches thick, but it’s also curved. So looking at all the lower cabinetry in the kitchen, we went with a white oak that marries with the floors throughout the whole space. You have storage all the way to 14 feet tall with just pushing on that upper door, it pops out, and then you can open it all the way.

Want to learn more about our kitchen remodeling projects? Click here.

Light and Space: Kitchen Backsplash and Range

Another really great touch to bring light into this space is the backsplash behind the sink is all a window. The range and its surround speaks for itself. We have a 48-inch wolf gas cooktop. The whole entire backsplash is that same Taj Mahal quartzite. We have a hefty brass pot filler, and then above that is our plaster vent hood surround. On each side, we have custom white oak panels to tie in the flooring. The cabinetry tucked away off the side of the kitchen. We have a grand walk-in butler’s pantry. Floor-to-ceiling custom cabinets here, and another bank of lowers for ample workspace. A feature that is a first for us is a puja. Our clients on this project are Hindu, and this is a worship room for them. Taj Mahal quartzite cascading down the wall with white oak lowers and a white oak shelf, what an amazing place to worship.

Outdoor Living at Its Finest

Going from our main living and dining is our outdoor living. This is a large, covered area and it’s perfectly weatherproof. Imagine sitting down, having dinner at your outdoor dining table, looking off into the sunset and just taking in that beautiful view. So when you have a view like this, we really need to take advantage of it. We have decks that wrap around the whole perimeter of the back of the house. Glass railings here are so clutch. Any type of railing that’s going to block your view is going to make it feel claustrophobic, but also block you from taking in that beauty. On the outside edge of the covered patio, we have a series of wood slats that run all the way the length of the house that make up a trellis. This gives for awesome shade, but with a polycarbonate cover on the top still lets sun through.

A Luxurious Pool and Spa Experience

Another plus here is you will have coverage from the rain if you’re walking from the master to the outdoor dining. From just about everywhere in the back of the house, you could see down to the oversized pool and spa. But only when you start to walk down to the pool where you really begin to realize how enormous it really is. The whole entire pool deck is raised about 15 feet from grade at the back of the house. Even when you’re at pool level, you still feel like you’re on top of the world. The whole entire pool deck is tiled, which is a vast upgrade from just concrete. Down here, we also have a second covered patio and an outdoor kitchen. Right off the pool, there’s a series of sliding glass doors that lead to a fully functional gym and a full pool bath.

The Ultimate Fitness and Wellness Space

Imagine working out, hopping in the pool and then taking a shower, and then getting ready for your day. Overlooking the pool is the primary suite. It has its private corridor of the house and is also one of my favorite spaces. The primary bedroom itself is something to behold. A sliding glass door with access to all the porches of the backyard and two corner windows give you one of the best angles of view of the rolling hills beyond. Another feature about this room that elevates it is our custom white oak accent wall behind the bed. There are also two custom white oak side tables built in. The primary bath is just another stunning feature on an already stunning house. The first thing you’ll notice in the primary bath is our large format porcelain tile that goes from the floor up the walls in five-foot wide by 10-foot sheets around the bathroom.

A Spa-Like Primary Bathroom

We have a long floating white oak vanity with mirrors from wall to wall. A feature that I love in here that you don’t see very often is the four hanging pendants that make up the light for the vanity. And of course, our beautiful curbless shower and our 72-inch freestanding tub. Doing the tile in this bathroom was very challenging because you simply do not have room for error. You have to bring the tile in one piece, line up all the different holes you have to cut, and get it on the wall without breaking it. A lot of these same themes from the primary bath are seen in all the secondary baths. Large tiles, a lot of monolithic applications, very clean and sleek, less is more. If that wasn’t enough to wow you, we have a fully soundproofed movie room, a sauna off the utility, and a fully functioning elevator.

Want to learn more about our bathroom remodeling? Click here.

Additional Luxuries: Secondary Bedrooms and Office

The uppermost level has some spectacular views, which are really captured in the secondary bedrooms and the office. I also love looking down from the catwalk into the formal living and out the windows on the second level. All in all, it has been a journey from start to finish over at the house on Westlake Hills. It’s one of our biggest and baddest homes to date. I want to say thank you to my wonderful clients, to my whole team, everyone that made this possible.

We’re only getting better from here. If you want to see more of our spectacular luxury builds, you can view our other custom home build projects.

IThank you all so much. Take it easy.