The Hillside House overlooks the city of Austin, Texas from  a considerable distance, both horizontally and vertically. Lake|Flato designed the building to accomodate the owner’s desire for sustainable living and being in touch with the outdoors, two things the firm has ample experience with. This house caught my attention in part because of a simple but neat detail: The incline of the roof in the above photograph is almost the same as the incline of the hill.

Surprise surprise, the house has huge windows! Again, this seems to be a Lake|Flato staple, a recurring means of blurring the line between inside and outside. The left side of this picture features the Austin city skyline and a living space ideally suited for appreciating the view.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this house is the terraced area in the left side of the above photo. From this viewpoint, the green area continues backward and transitions seamlessly into the grass beside the structure. It’s hard to tell where natural ground ends and the man-made plateau begins! There’s even an entire tree planted in that area, which is super cool. Here’s another view from outside:

Photo credits: Aaron Leitz