MODERN LUXURY

Austin Modern Home Tour extends to the Hill Country with spectacular 2-day showcase

Photo courtesy of Revent Builds

Modern design lovers, architecture buffs, and those looking for a unique home builder will have a chance to explore even more homes in the Central Texas area at this year’s Austin Modern Home Tour. The Modern Architecture + Design Society (MA+DS) has announced the addition of a second day to their 14th annual showcase at the end of February, giving the bonus day its own name, the Hill Country Modern Tour.

Taking place on February 25 and 26, the goal of the two tours is to showcase the talent and hard work of architects, designers, and developers around the Central Texas area. To date, over 9,000 people have attended the event. The tours also serve as a networking and volunteer opportunity for students at Texas State University’s Interior Design program, the tour’s selected non-profit partner.

Visitors on the Austin leg of the self-guided tour will be able to view beautiful modern homes in Allandale, Bouldin Creek, Hyde Park, Zilker Park, and more, while the Hill Country Modern Tour will include homes in Driftwood, Wimberley, and Spicewood.

Cornerstone Architects, Tornbjerg Design, refuGe Design Studio, and Kelle Contine Interior Design are the Hill Country tour’s featured participants, while the full list of participants included on the Austin Modern Home Tour includes:

Tornbjerg Design in Cat Mountain Estates
Studio Momentum Architects with Newcastle Homes in Allendale
Joseph Design Build in Bouldin Creek
Thurman Homes in Whisper Valley
coXist Studio with smartDigs Austin in Govalle
WORKSHOP NO 5 with Mosier Luxury Homes in Canyon Rim
Moontower Design Build in Rosedale
Render ATX (formerly ESS Design+Build) in Hyde Park
Verde Builders Custom Homes® in Balcones Woods
Charles Di Piazza Architecture in Heritage Neighborhood
Intexure Architects + Boxprefab in Windsor Park
Revent Builds with Joseph Design Build in Zilker Park
LBR Homes with Element 5 Architecture

The Austin Modern Home Tour will take place on February 25 from 10 am to 6 pm, and the Hill Country Modern Tour will follow on February 26 from 10 am to 4 pm. Both tours are self-guided.

Tickets and more information about the tours can be found on Modern Architecture + Design Society’s website.

Photo by Leonid Furmansky, courtesy of coXist

The Sculpture Residences are situated overlooking Dimension Gallery Sculpture Park in East Austin.

Driftwood Modern Architecture + Design Society (MA+DS)Spicewood Wimberley hill country hill country modern tour home tour austin modern home tour texas architecture modern architecture

GOB Sale

All Austin-area Big Lots stores hold going out of business sales

Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Big Lots

Discount retail chain Big Lots is hosting a massive "GOB" — going out of business — sale, in anticipation of a possible company-wide closure.

The Columbus, Ohio-based chain has not come out and said it is going out of business — but instead that is holding the going-out-of-business sales to protect the value of the company.

"We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale," Big Lots President and CEO Bruce Thorn said in a statement. "While we remain hopeful that we can close an alternative going concern transaction, in order to protect the value of the Big Lots estate, we have made the difficult decision to begin the GOB process."

The sell-off comes after a stalled sale of Big Lots to Nexus Capital Management, which was in motion after Big Lots initiated bankruptcy proceedings under Chapter 11 in September.

At that time, they executed a first round of closings — a total of 344 stores that included just one in the Austin area. More rounds of closures followed in the coming months.

On December 19, Big Lots determined that the sale would not be moving forward.

According to Fast Company, Big Lots did not explain why it was unable to complete a sale to Nexus, other than reports that an appraisal of Big Lots' inventory came in below expectations, which would make it unviable for Nexus Capital Management buy the company.

While they continue to look for alternatives, the plan now is to do the GOB sale in anticipation of a company shutdown.

Fans will miss Big Lots for their good-quality furniture, household goods, seasonal items, and gourmet foodstuffs, as well as basics like cleaning products and cereal.

There are currently four stores still operating in the Austin area:

Cedar Park: 850 N Bell Blvd., Ste. 104
Round Rock: 1201 S. Interstate 35, Ste. 200, Round Rock
Spicewood Springs: 8666 Spicewood Springs Rd.
Southeast Austin: 801 E. William Cannon Dr., Ste. 135b

closings