BULL
CREEK
RANCH

  

Bull Creek Ranch is a 55 acre site located in the Hill Country of Austin positioned at the threshold of a meadow and a vast cedar forest. Designed to merge the family life of its residents with the immersive beauty of their art collection, the architecture, and the surrounding landscape, it is organized as a set of intersecting, diagonal lines and spaces. Courtyards caught within the intersecting lines filter light into the lower levels merging the house’s public and private zones into a unified whole, just as the house stitches together the forest and the meadow.

Upon arrival, visitors are guided into the foyer, where the open expanse of the meadow begins to unfold. At various points within the home, courtyards appear to overlap in perspective, creating interplay between open and closed spaces. On the western elevation, the transparency and reflection generated by the layering of glass walls produces a simultaneous experience of house and nature, bringing the expansive views of the surrounding landscape inwards. The eastern elevation of the house is sheltered and protected, composed of opaque walls, and forms the backbone of the building. This private zone arches itself around the central courtyards, and maintains intimate environments amenable to family living. A room housing a collection of Renaissance paintings and books is suspended between these two programmatic zones. This room becomes the social and intellectual hub around which family members gather and share in the day’s activities.

The grounds and overall plan were developed with the evolving idea that this property will eventually be transformed into a foundation, giving the public access to its grounds, architecture, and incredible collection, and making the property a destination for Austonians and the rest of the art and design community. In addition to making a museum-caliber art collection comprising many large-scale, outdoor pieces accessible to all, the transformation of the property into public use will preserve 55 acres of restored forest, wetlands, geologic features, and meadow that would otherwise be developed. The sustainability interventions implemented at the site will preserve the natural beauty of the terrain for the benefit of the environment and the public.