It is safe to say when designer Mark Cravotta first started working on this Austin home, he had no clue what he was getting himself into. What started out as a layout for a spec house he’d completed architectural detailing for finished up becoming a 6-year long project, culminating in an outstanding castle-like inside with magnificent detailing that is almost hard to believe. Explore on Tudor, Jacobean and Gothic architectural styles, in addition to the customers’ love for dark and macabre theater, inspired the décor and finishings for this Texas dream home.
While the luxury in this house seems unbelievable in several respects, every detail is a good illustration of magnificent artisanship and historic layout. The customers encouraged Cravotta to really go for it and he did. Having the ability to make such in-depth designs is an exceptional experience, and Cravotta was thrilled.
The style in this house may be out-of-this-world, but the customers are anything but. This retired couple simply wished to construct their dream home and had the funds to do so. “They’re gentle, kind and unassuming,” states Cravotta. “Not at all what you might expect from looking at the house. They live a pretty solitary life, and devote a lot of their time in your home. But after I had a feeling of what was likely to thrill them I started dreaming big on their behalf.”
Cravotta Interiors
Cravotta had a hand in every detail within this house. Each bit of woodwork and stonework was drawn out and created by skilled artisans. This degree of detail in a house was unlike anything that Cravotta had done previously. He and his staff “were definitely learning and creating as we travelled along,” he explained.
The jaw-dropping fireplace in the formal living area is a good instance of the work that went into the construction. With the support of classically trained stone carvers Joseph and Holly Kincannon, Cravotta designed this limestone fireplace, which required a year to complete. The stone was given a distinctive aged appearance with olive oil, applied by hand.
Cravotta Interiors
The furniture is a mixture of custom pieces designed by Cravotta, European antiques, and a few bits from high-end manufacturers. The dining table within this formal dining area was custom designed by Cravotta to fit this space. Oklahoma sandstone lines the walls.
Cravotta Interiors
An upstairs bar with a balcony looks down over the kitchen along with adjoined family area in the house. The floor is rift and quartered walnut with walnut tile. The fireplace was bought from a European chateau, and its layout and complete inspired almost all of the other millwork in the house.
Cravotta Interiors
French limestone was used for the backsplash and countertops in the kitchen, while the cabinetry is solid walnut. To maintain the castle-like expression of the rest of the home, the appliances were paneled with the same walnut as the cabinetry. The result is a kitchen that feels current but may also be right at home in a French chateau.
Cravotta Interiors
The pub, which sits on the upper level above the dining area, kitchen and living area, was inspired by post-Renaissance and Gothic periods. All of the woodwork in this area is American walnut.
Cravotta Interiors
The home theater is one of the house’s most spectacular rooms. A red carpet contributes to an entry made with custom cast-bronze doors. The doors are part of this vision that Cravotta needed for the theater — a layout based on elegant Parisian theaters throughout the Golden Age, taken up a notch.
Cravotta Interiors
Soft velvet chairs, custom millwork and hand-drawn details provide this home cinema a lavish, Parisian-opera-house feel. Unlike a number of other rooms in the house, this theater was not based on specific imagery, just Cravotta’s imagination.
Cravotta Interiors
A dark wood paneled billiard area adds a debonair air to the house’s main floor. The wool carpet is one of Cravotta’s layouts — he also designed the carpet in the bedrooms and the stairwells.
The property’s lighting is a hand-picked combination of antique fittings and Cravotta’s very own designs. “I went methodical searches for just the right part in every detail throughout the house,” he explained. “If I couldn’t find it, I had it made.” The chandeliers are British antiques Cravotta located at a merchant in Dallas.
Cravotta Interiors
The bedroom ceilings are molded plaster. Within this guest room, Cravotta established the layout on ceilings in an Irish castle. While the walls in this area are also made from plaster, the distinctive shimmering effect comes from a top coat of mica-infused wax.
Cravotta Interiors
The ceiling depth in this guest room has been adapted form a ceiling within a real estate. If you’re thinking the bed frame resembles something from the Renaissance — you would be right. This one-of-a-kind bed was made in the 1800s with wood panels in the mid-1400s.
Cravotta Interiors
The master suite includes a fireplace, hand-embroidered wallpaper, extensive closet along with a hand-carved bedframe of Cravotta’s layout. This extraordinary space has a distinct mixture of different patterns and textures, but the neutral colour palette keeps the room calm.
Cravotta Interiors
Calacatta gold marble was used for almost every surface in the master bathroom, which brings to mind ancient Roman baths and overlooks a massive canyon.
Cravotta Interiors
This gorgeous secretaire designed by Erika Brunson is one of the few new bits in your house. Although this piece might reflect a different age and style compared to the rest of the bits in this particular guest area, the materials and fashions still blend smoothly. “I’m not a purist by any means,” states Cravotta. “So sticking to a style or period was never my objective, even though the house has a definite English sense.”
Cravotta Interiors
Cravotta scoured the internet for older books and manuscripts, arranged out-of-print copies and took meticulous notes to be certain every detail was accurate. Obviously, the craftsman and artisans he worked with were a great source of advice, he says. “They supplied a wealth of understanding and historical circumstance.”
Cravotta Interiors
A basement at the base of the house holds the couple’s impressive wine collection. Sandstone walls maintain the space trendy, while tables and chairs from Gregorious Pineo and Elijah Slocum give people a place to sit and have a glass.
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