Congratulations! I love the elegant simplicity and the feel of the room.

Your entire home is beautiful...congratulations!

Ditto what daki wrote.

Thanks debi, vicnsb, & daki :)
We have been working on it all day today...I am so ready to be done....

Everything is perfect. You have achieved a bella cucina. It seems timeless. What a warm elegant kitchen. Love the countertops. I just want to touch them. The hood is to die for. And the mosaic! and I am not a tile lover. Wow!

What I was trying to say is that your kitchen seems like it has always been there, not a new kitchen trying hard for the effect.

Yes, it most certainly is a bella cucina! (In fact, after looking at the outside of your home and the fantastic surrounding countryside, I actually thought I was looking at a home in Italy. . . not Austin, Tx!) How lovely is everything. I especially appreciate the quiet, simple, earthen understatement it makes while simultaneously proclaiming its apparent quality. I'm also especially loving your backsplashes. Very nice all around. Congratulations!

Thanks so much cooperbailey and marthavila! That's exacty the feel we were going for. Nothing too Austintatious but something unique and interesting. We were considering having a mosaic made for the backsplash with a rendering of our house on it. I'm glad we went with the plain architerra field tile backsplash instead; more mosaic would have been too much. The next big challenge is the garden... to make look as if it has always been there and to carefully blend traditional italian flora (olives, figs, herbs, etc.) with native flowers, trees and grasses... at the moment, the grounds immediately around the house are a caliche wasteland from all the construction traffic.

Simply Magnificent! Great Job!

I love the new photos you uploaded today. I agree with Vicnsb that, in fact, I love your whole house. Molto bello!

pegkip, where are you in Spicewood? That's where I am at too.

Thanks, luvnola & marthavila. trudymom, we're off Hwy 71 just SE of the Pedernales River (the Austin side) overlooking the entire river valley to the W,NW.

I too love the timeless simplicity of your home. I have a great love of the SW and have lived in Santa Fe and Taos and SLC. I have a home decorated in many art works of the Native Americans . I really appreciate the chance to see your lovely rendering of a truly Bella Cucina. Caroline

Thanks, Caroline. There is an archaeological site just across the highway that was an indian campground. The golden hour is falling outside... I wonder if they had a name for it?

I am sure they did. My son has a lot of friends in Austin and my nephew lives there also. My son visited last year and ran on the trails near the river. He saw a For Rent sign on a tiny house that was adjacent to the trail and the river...he said it was all he could do to keep going ! He just loves it there as do all his friends. If you decide to show more pics of your home I would love to see them.
Do you collect Native American art ? I have a lot of TEWA silk screen prints that I started buying in Santa Fe many years ago. they are closed now so I treasure them.
Caroline

pegkip, I'd love to see more pictures also! I am near Bee Creek Road and 71. How close to Bee Creek are you? Would you like to meet sometime?

Trudy

Ah, home!

DH's grandmother, on her deathbed, said if heaven wasn't as beautiful as the Texas Hill Country, she didn't want to go!

Your home is lovely and you are so lucky to live at heaven's door.

Your kitchen is beautiful. I love it all, but that countertop is just stunning; I can't stop looking at it. Thanks for sharing, Crystal

hey peg, the link to all your pics worked just now, not sure what happened earlier. I remember now seeing your pics last year when you posted. Your home is really beautiful . The choices you made to blend the hill country w/ the interior are perfect. I love the views. You and Jim have done an amazing job. Thanks for posting. c

I have to make this short because we are awaiting delivery of some sort of big machine that will allow us to remove a big section of rock we've encountered in the area we're excavating for a carport. Caroline, Trudy, Crystal, pecanpie, thanks to each of you for your kind words :) Trudy, if you look at more of the blog you'll see tons more photos, including the site before we tore it up for the house :( Crystal, I have closeups of the countertop I may post later... the color is butter yellow and the veins are a brownish-orange, like our terracotta floors.

Your home is beautiful. I have always wanted to go to Italy, now after seeing your kitchen I must make a point of seeing that I get there some day.
I think it's great that you also plan to have your landscape designed in typical plantings of that area. That will be so nice to have the inside and outside connected. A lot of people take care in making sure their homes have a certain feel about them but fail to marry those ideas with the landscape. As a professional gardener I try to accomplish that in any design I do. Yours will be a fun project.
Good Luck and enjoy your new home.

A "Hole Ram" ... that's the name of the equipment. :) We finished the first terrace yesterday and my, my - are we sore this morning! I'm leaving the rest of the project in the hands of the guys as I'm off to a conference until Saturday evening. I'll post some photos on the blog then...

flowerchild, I am looking forward to getting to work on the grounds. I expect that it will be a long, long, long term project, but if we can get the bones right it will make the rest fall into place much easier... we've already chosen locations for some native shade trees, italian cypress, bay laurel, and fig.... all in the fullness of time :)

May I archive your kitchen in the Finished Kitchens Blog?
If so please submit the Category Checklist form so I can easily categorize your kitchen.
Thank you!

Here is a link that might be useful: FKB Category Checklist

oh gosh..... please ignore my request! I received your Category Checklist last Sunday. Thanks!