GRAPHĒ: Between Power Lines and a Protected Pecan Tree, This Texas Home Found a Way to Fit In

Architects José Minguell and Laura McQuary rose to the occasion when neighbors asked them to design a home like their own, on one of East Austin’s trickiest lots.

The second-level terrace was designed to take advantage of Austin’s southeast to northeast prevailing winds.

In 2021, Matt and Leah Ray—a pair of outdoorsy college sweethearts from Texas—had just moved into a shabby mobile home in East Austin when they were driving through the neighborhood, seeking inspiration for their dream home.

Around the block, they locked eyes on one residence in particular with a geometric form that Leah says "was unlike anything else I had really seen."

Leah left a note for the homeowners, who happened to be longtime Austin-based architectural duo José Minguell and Laura McQuary of the design-build firm Minguell-McQuary. Her message got right to the point: Can you make us a place like yours?

Matt (a solutions engineer) and Leah (a medical writer) Ray met at the University of Texas Austin—coincidentally the same school where architects José Minguell and Laura McQuary met years earlier. — Matt (a solutions engineer) and Leah (a medical writer) Ray met at the University of Texas Austin—which is coincidentally the same school where architects José Minguell and Laura McQuary met years earlier.

Photo: Casey Dunn

"It’s kind of nice when a client comes to you because they saw your work," Minguell says. And when Leah and Matt shared that they recently moved to the neighborhood, McQuary remembers thinking, "Of course we’re gonna do your house."

But what began as a serendipitous pairing turned complicated when it came to the couple’s property.

"They probably found the smallest lot in the neighborhood," McQuary says, estimating that it’s about a third the size of an average residential parcel in East Austin. To make matters trickier, the property is sandwiched between immovable power lines and a grand pecan tree, the latter of which is protected as a "heritage tree" by the city.

Nevertheless, the lot’s ideal two-block proximity to a trail along the Colorado River meant that Matt and Leah were motivated to make it work.

To get the home to fit, Minguell and McQuary had to think diagonally.

First, they situated the ground floor on the north side of the lot to avoid the pecan tree’s roots. Then, they designed the second-floor bedroom, office, and terrace (along with the third-floor primary bedroom) to jut southward, in order to create distance from the power lines.

"It’s basically a series of masses that are offset from each other," McQuary says about the design.

Photo: Casey Dunn

Viewed from the street, the home’s gray brickwork base gives way to corrugated steel that’s colored, according to Leah and Matt, in a "very Austin" green to blend with the trees behind. The front door is accessible through an inviting steel arch that leads into the property’s inner courtyard.

Beyond the number of rooms, the only specific design request that Matt and Leah had was for the home to emphasize indoor/outdoor living.

"Ninety percent of the year, it’s blazing-lava hot," Leah says about the south-Texas climate. Having a shady retreat would help them make the most of Austin’s temperate spring and autumn months.

A sprawling second-floor terrace accordingly became the centerpiece of a design that blurs the line between inside and out. Made from waterproofed bamboo, the terrace was a splurge that effectively gave Matt and Leah a second living room outdoors.