Home of the Week -- Mount Bonnell

The home of Lance Armstrong, Austin is known for having a variety of outdoor activities. The city is full of cycling, running, kayaking, and canoeing activities, among others. A favorite place for hiking and enjoying the sites is Mount Bonnell.

Not only is Mount Bonnell an outdoorsy site, it's close to Balcones Drive, the street about which I blogged a few weeks ago, and there are houses along Mount Bonnell Road, too. This week's home is one of those along Mount Bonnell Rd.

At just under 6,000 square feet, this estate features five bedrooms, five full baths, two half baths, two living areas, and two dining areas. It sits on a gated lot and offers views of the Texas Hill Country and beautiful Lake Austin.

While I won't say who lives in this house, I did find an interesting article about the couple and the amazing pool they had built after they moved in. The article, believe it or not, appeared in the New York Times back in August, 2007:

Not all over-the-top pool owners, though, set out to build showpieces. When J. and B. M. bought their 5,800-square-foot house outside Austin, Tex., two years ago they planned only to remodel the existing pool. But they were persuaded to go further by their designer, Brent Mowry of Mowry Pools in Austin.

When Mr. M. saw the house for the first time, he said, it was essentially a tear-down. “But when I walked out onto that deck, I thought, ‘Damn, this is a million-dollar view and I need a pool that can keep up.’ ”

The M's ended up spending what they said was a significant chunk of their overall renovation budget — which was a million dollars, as it happens — on a two-story pool connected by a slide and a recirculating waterfall with sweeping staircases on either side. The lines of the pools — the bottom one is 320 square feet and the top one 450 — mimic the shoreline of Lake Austin below. At night, they glow in one or more of the lighting system’s 24 programmable colors.

Mr. M. is somewhat reticent about the interest the pool has attracted from neighbors and others, although he admits it’s been a subject of conversation. “We really wanted a place to hang out with the family, which we got,” he said, along with “something that truly adds to the value of the home.”

His wife, a stay-at-home mother, was more forthcoming. “We got a lot of local publicity about the house and the pool and it was in the local parade of homes,” she said. “I think about 600 people came through to take a look. We can see people driving slow by the house and I know they’re just dying to get in to see both the house and the pool. This is the first summer since the completion so it’s been quite the happening spot.”

“At first it made me nervous — all the people that had seen the house, but it’s a lot of fun to talk about,” she said. “People are really amazed by the before and after. It’s fun to see the look on everyone’s face when they see the pool.”

As with all open house posts, click on pics for larger views.



















I really like a lot of the finishes in this house, such as the walls, stained beams and old-looking floors. Did you notice the ceiling in the wine room?

Now that you've read the story about the pool renovation and seen the pics, did the owners get their money's worth?

Oh, by the way, this home is for sale for $3.7 million. Let me get out my checkbook.