Explosive growth, which would eventually come to define Austin despite storied resistance from its slacker set, really arrived at the dawn of the 1980s. Those 10 years saw the development of a dozen buildings over 15 floors in height in the downtown area alone, and though Austin didn't experience the stereotypical excess of the decade compared to either Dallas or "Dallas," the ...
historic preservation
At a Shuttered East Side Barbershop, Five Floors of Apartments May Fit Fine
A five-story apartment building could soon rise atop the site of a former East Austin barbershop, per recent city filings. Located on a roughly .22-acre assembly that includes 1812 and 1814 East Sixth Street, both addresses are now owned by corporate entities connected with local design and construction firm Novium Group. Site plan proposals filed last week by ...
In 1963, Austin’s Rowdiest Teens Built a ‘Sex Party Tree House’ in North Loop
Let's make one thing clear from the get-go: "Sex Party Tree House" is an extremely funny combination of words, regardless of the context. Since coming across this phrase last year in a 1963 edition of the Austin Statesman, I'll catch myself incessantly repeating it in my head, brain clapping like a trained seal, until all semantic meaning fades away -- Sex Party Tree House, Sex ...
A Field Guide to Austin’s Craftsman Architecture
If you're interested in historic homes, you probably already know the Craftsman style. This architectural movement was one of America's most popular for small houses or "bungalows" built between 1900 and the mid-1920s, meaning it's well-represented in many of Austin's central neighborhoods built around that period. This wide distribution around town makes it a no-brainer for ...
In 1977, the ‘Tree Safeway’ Kept Austin’s Grocery Stores Weird
For more than 40 years, there's been a grocery store at 715 Exposition Boulevard in West Austin, sitting on a 2.6-acre piece of land owned by the University of Texas System. The building opened as a Safeway in 1977, briefly became an AppleTree Market (remember those?) in the late 1980s, and finally a Randalls in 1994. Earlier this year, we learned H-E-B had successfully ...