Design magazine House Beautiful has finished its big annual project for 2025, and it happens to be in Austin. The "2025 Whole Home" is a new build in the Deep Eddy neighborhood, unveiled in the November/December issue.
The three-story "treehouse" was designed by House Beautiful and its partners, some local and some visiting. Designers with a local presence included: Sara Malek Barney of BANDD/DESIGN, Katie Hastings Architecture and Rick Villani & Preston Graham of Villani&Graham, Malek Barney, and Kim Lewis. There were also tons of brand partners supplying appliances and other details.
Each designer claimed their own room, creating an interesting showcase of different styles in harmony across the entire house. House Beautiful wrote what amounts to an entire article to almost every room, providing lots of detail for curious readers.
For the skimmers, here are some of our favorite details. People can also buy tickets to tour the home until October 26; after that they'll be able to purchase some furnishings in an online auction. Funds will benefit Friends of the Children - Austin. Finally, the house will hit the market after that.
Seen from the front, the 3,800-square-foot home has a surprisingly low profile.Photo courtesy of House Beautiful
Starting with the bright living room and earthy-but-mod dining room, there's tons of character right away. Both are relatively muted in their structure, with white walls, dark wood floors, and tall, but not overwhelming windows. In the living room, a bright maroon rug with a zig-zag pattern and a chartreuse couch with rounded edges immediately draw the eye and create a playful tone.
But most exciting, taking a moment to unfold from the first impression, are the two plaid arm chairs in colors that complement the space without directly matching it. Chrome arms and legs reflect the other hues in the room, and the pattern offers something that might be quaint if it weren't so modern.
These sculptural tables and the items on them are like a little museum exhibit. Design by Kim Levis.Photo courtesy of House Beautiful
This dining room is much more sober and autumnal. With curtains drawn, it puts the table at center stage — but opening them would expose windows that open up nearly the whole wall. More sculptural works bring interest to the space without stealing the show.
Look at the little gallery light mounted above the wall art — classy and cute! Design by Kim Levis.Photo courtesy of House Beautiful
A second living room on the upper level of the house brings together tons of visual and tactile textures, including not just wallpaper, but three separate curtain patterns.Through these windows, the home really does look like a treehouse, and the art on the ceilings feels like a more mature version of putting up posters in a dorm room.
The soft details on this chair's arms look so touchable. Design by Rydhima Brar.Photo courtesy of House Beautiful
This next one is not specifically a third living room, but a "flex space"; House Beautiful calls it "the room you slip into for a conversation you can actually hear." Art in this room is inspired by Austin's long-legendary music scene. While it was almost certainly unintentional, it's hard not to notice how much the blue walls and wood shelving match the new Austin City Limits "green room" at Austin PBS.
These orangey accents are complimentary to the blue wash without adding a lot of heat. Design by Amber Guyton.Photo courtesy of House Beautiful
The kitchen, bathroom, and laundry were all designed by Sara Malek Barney. While readers might expect to see a bright, colorful kitchen and a more subdued bathroom, that's subverted in this house. In the kitchen, a gigantic island negates the need for a table or much other counter space. Floor-to-ceiling cabinets blend in as if they're just an accent wall.
Shelves on top of the backsplash house knickknacks that keep the space from feeling too sterile. Design by Sara Malek Barney.Photo courtesy of House Beautiful
The bathroom and laundry combine a relatively simple, but happy and retro color scheme with busy patterning. Rotating the floor tiles makes the design look a bit more organic, and the random placement of wall tiles keeps them from being overwhelming. When it comes to the single window treatment in this image, less is more.
Wrapping the wall tiles around the step up into the shower breaks up the floor in a fun way. Design by Sara Malek Barney.Photo courtesy of House Beautiful
Moving into the bedrooms, the primary and the guest suite could not look more different — although that seems to be the norm in this art gallery of a house. In the primary bedroom, designed for a fictional Brit, muted colors keep things cozy despite the formality.
Why not decorate with a nearly life-sized stuffed sheep? Design by Kathy Kuo.Photo courtesy of House Beautiful
From colonialism in the primary to expansionism in the guest suite. These walls were inspired by a bandana designer Leah O’Connell found at Round Top, and other subtly Western details throughout. House Beautiful calls this a "Southern-meets-cowboy aesthetic." Landscape paintings (not pictured) around the corner echo the real-life landscape on view here.
The blue in these shelves, against the sky and white trim, make them look like a Southern porch ceiling doused in haint blue. Design by Leah O’Connell.Photo courtesy of House Beautiful
Finally, two decks and a loft round out the rest of the house. Like a complement to the upper living room, the loft makes use of a sloped ceiling and a relatively small space ideal for conversations or a quiet hang. The most muted room in the house, the space is tonally rich nonetheless thanks to warm browns, deep, earthy greens, and exposed wood.
This is a perfect place to read a book and escape overstimulation. Design by Amber Lewis.Photo courtesy of House Beautiful
On the balcony, things are kept simple with all-white fabrics and some corded details. House Beautiful points out that this outdoor furniture is "durable enough to withstand Austin’s sun but refined enough to bring inside."
Potted plants bring the greenery over the balcony's ledge.Photo courtesy of House Beautiful
The primary deck, despite its simplicity, is this home's pièce de résistance. Who wouldn't want to enjoy a meal in this partially shaded outdoor kitchen and dining space? At 850 square feet, it's bigger than some Austin apartments, and it has about as many sections: something for cooking, something for eating, and multiple cozy conversation spaces.
“I looked at the space and thought, 'How many different functions can I put outdoors?' Because I’m going to need to do them all,” designer Caitlin Creer told House Beautiful. Design by Caitlin Creer.Photo courtesy of House Beautiful
The 2025 Whole Home can be viewed in more detail at housebeautiful.com.