Vale House by Furman + Keil Architects
Vale House settles into Rollingwood, United States, as a gabled stone house by Furman + Keil Architects. The home reads private from the street yet opens to a bright courtyard at its core, where thin steel windows draw sun across pale wood and honed stone. A family house at heart, it guides daily life toward a kitchen that serves both routine and revelry with calm, durable materials.
Live oaks cast shifting shadows across a quiet gabled volume. Step inside and the light pools around blond wood, honed stone, and blackened steel that frame a glass-wrapped courtyard.
This is a house for a family, set in a west Austin suburb, shaped by Furman + Keil Architects. A clear idea holds it together: a restrained interior palette supports daily life while giving the kitchen and courtyard a warm, durable presence.
Stone and Light
A simple stone mass meets the street, its calm surface backing a stand of live oaks. Inside, thin steel windows shift the tone, opening long views to an interior court anchored by another oak and pulling light across walls and millwork.
Kitchen as Hearth
The kitchen sits at the center of the plan, working hard for weekday meals and weekend gatherings alike. A freestanding limestone wall divides the bedroom wing from this hub, creating a lively stage for cooking while concealing storage behind carefully sized white oak cubbies (order without fuss).
Waxed steel ties the stone to the millwork with a quiet seam. Quarter sawn white oak cabinets and a quartzite honed countertop take a steady wash of daylight and hold up to use without glare.
Ceiling and Skylight
Above, a hemlock ceiling floats over the kitchen, lending grain and warmth to the room below. A large skylight interrupts the plane, brightening prep surfaces through the day and drawing the eye upward as the sun shifts.
Stained concrete floors bounce that light back into the room and allow brass fixtures to catch a soft gleam. The result is practical underfoot and quietly reflective where hands and eyes spend time.
Courtyard in Use
Beyond the kitchen, glass folds the courtyard into daily routines, turning movement into a visible rhythm. Conversations carry across the court, and the oak’s canopy filters brightness into patterned shade.
The locally sourced limestone shows up again at touch points, a steady reminder of the house’s exterior and its Texas setting. Materials repeat with intent, keeping the interior composed and legible.
Craft and Restraint
Intersecting volumes define rooms without fuss, leaving surfaces to do the work. Crisp millwork lines, dark steel frames, and pale stone trade emphasis as the light changes through the day.
Nothing shouts—materials carry the mood with texture, tone, and proportion. The palette stays tight so the life within can move freely and still feel grounded.
By dusk, the courtyard glows and the hemlock ceiling reads as a warm canopy. The stone holds its cool touch, the oak keeps its quiet grain, and the house settles into the trees.
Photography courtesy of Furman + Keil Architects
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