This whimsical whole-house remodel combines elements from a Mayan palace with durability and careful water management.
PROJECT DETAILS
> Location: Austin, Texas
> Builder: David B. Kettler, Kettler-Austin www.kettleraustin.com
>Architect: Dick Kettler, Kettler-Austin www. kettleraustin.com
> Architect: Joseph M. Bennett, JMBA www. jmbarchitects.com
> Engineer: Stuart Polvado, Polvado Engineering www. polvado-engineering. com


This unusual whole-house remodel began with a mostly gutted home in an old Austin neighborhood.


“The owner has a fascination with Mexico and Central America,” recalls builder David Kettler. “He started with a little backyard garden area, and really got into it and researched a lot. He had been working on the project for a couple of years, but he had trouble with some of the guys he brought in to do the work. They tended to be a bit unreliable.”


Meanwhile, Kettler’s work on a neighboring home caught the future client’s attention. He liked the builder’s attention to quality and energy-saving details.


Architect Joe Bennett had already created a plan for the house. But the owner wanted a builder who could bend or change the rules as needed. A lot of the exterior stone motifs in the home come directly from Mayan ideas, including the interior hallway, which was finished with Pecky cypress.


“John Ignacio, the homeowner, is experimental. He wants to try everything,” Kettler says. “We tried to work with whatever he came up with. A neighbor across the street is a Mayan expert, and John talked with him a lot about various details. We worked together to create what he wanted. For example, a gutter made of waterproofed concrete blocks runs around the perimeter and collects rainwater. That water will eventually dump into a cistern system, but he’s still looking at the process of putting that together. For now, it drains directly into the plantings and gardens.”


This owner is a dedicated bargain shopper, Kettler notes. Even during construction he continued to scour bargain barns and Craigslist for unusual items and used building materials that could add a personal flair to the home.


For example, he located a large supply of glass block from a deconstructed school and put the blocks back to work in a greenhouse outbuilding. The inorganic materials from the demolition were used as solid fill in the back yard, then covered with gar- den beds and patios.


Low Tech Plus New Tech
The home combines time-tested technologies with innovative products. At the front entrance, for example, the owner insisted on a traditional “green” alternative to air conditioning evaporative water cooling (also known as a swamp cooler.)


“Basically the water runs over these excelsior pads on the walls,” notes Kettler, “and when it hits the bottom, you pump it back up to the top. You see it used a lot in Arizona as an alternative to air conditioners. It’s not as effi cient in a climate like ours, but it works great when the weather is dry.”


The rest of the home is cooled by a pair of super-efficienct heat pumps that operate on separate zones. One unit conditions the front of the house, and the other operates “mini-splits” that create separate zones in the rest of the house.


The Trane variable speed heat pump is especially efficienct because it gradually ramps up to speed when called on, rather than requiring a surge of power. It also provides heat when required.


 

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