Love This Listing

East Austin urban masterpiece hits the market for $1.1 million

Love This Listing

East Austin urban masterpiece hits the market for $1.1 million

The main living area at 2700 E. 12th St.Photo by Cote Minguell
The home boasts walls of stunning windows.Photo by Cote Minguell
It is part of a small, three-home development.Photo by Cote Minguell
The development was designed by Austin-based architecture firm Minguell-McQuary.Photo by Cote Minguell
Clean lines and elements of wood, steel, and tile abound.Photo by Cote Minguell
The kitchen boasts all of the latest amenities.Photo by Cote Minguell
The three bedrooms are located upstairs.Photo by Cote Minguell
You'll find high ceilings on both levels of the home.Photo by Cote Minguell
A unique partition in the master bedroom hides the bathroom.Photo by Cote Minguell

This million-dollar new build promises zen living in urban East Austin.

Built in 2017, 2700 E. 12th St. is the second home in a unique three-cottage home development designed by award-winning Austin architecture firm Minguell-McQuary. The firm's goal is to provide something similar to a downtown condo, but with more architecturally unique spaces.

"One of the interesting things about crafting small developments is that you have a larger tapestry to work with. Suddenly neighboring houses can share views and have a more integrated landscape that you could never achieve with singular homes," says Laura McQuary, principal at Minguell-McQuary. "This home embraces the eclectic mix found in East Austin, by both contributing to it and by blending in. A lot of houses just do one or the other."

The two-story, 2,300-square-foot home features three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and one half-bath. Its best features? The stunning floor-to-ceiling windows, and the "floating" living space.

A large cedar porch greets you at the side entrance of the home. A tiered, open layout maximizes the space, which is accentuated with clean lines and elements of wood, steel, and tile, not to mention the views.

The three bedrooms are located upstairs. The two guestrooms are connected by sliding dividers that can transform the rooms into one larger shared space. Designed with the environment in mind, you'll find LED lighting, CAT6 wiring, a tankless water heater, and a top-notch HVAC system. The minimalist lawn incorporates many natural elements — and very little grass.

"This home has a strong connection with the outdoors and the surrounding urban environment. At the same time, it provides a quiet zen-like respite, as it seems to float over the landscape," McQuary says.

The unique property is listed for $1.1 million with Danielle Becker of Maxavenue.

home-for-sale trends

rush to round rock

Austin suburb emerges as top 10 best mid-size place to live in U.S.

Round Rock is the 10th best place to live nationwide. roundrocktexas.gov/

One Austin-area suburb has risen to the top on a new list of "the 100 Best Places to Live in 2025." The list — from relocation marketing platform Livability.com — put Round Rock at No. 10 for its appealing size and affordability.

The list was restricted to small and mid-size cities with populations between 75,000-500,000 residents. And it also considered only cities with a median home value of $500,000 or less.

They considered factors such as average rent and home prices relative to income to keep their list centered around affordability.

While Round Rock's score does place it among the top 10, and the cities do show in order from highest to lowest score, the site specifies that it did not number its ranking so that users are encouraged to apply their own personal priorities.

Round Rock's LivScore totaled 793 out of 1,000 possible points.

The North Austin suburb is located 18 miles north of downtown, with a population of more than 128,000 residents and a median household income that's well into the six-figure range, at $140,726. Round Rock homeowners have median home values of $463,739, according to the report's findings.

Across the eight main categories, the city ranked the highest for its environment (score of 77), housing and cost of living (77), and economy (74). The report said Round Rock's industrious economy was bolstered by Austin's tech boom in the 1990s.

"While many locals continue to commute into the city for work, opportunities within Round Rock proper have increased recently," the city's profile says. "Round Rock is home to the global headquarters of Dell Technologies, Emerson Automation Solutions and Toppan Photomasks, Inc."

Round Rock park system Round Rock has 37 parks that span more than 2,305 acres, and numerous trails.roundrocktexas.gov/

Livability also praises Round Rock's "small town" feel, its safe neighborhoods, high-ranking schools, recreational activities, park system, and more.

"There are over three dozen parks for the city’s 128,111 residents, including a Play for All Abilities Park featuring a sensory pod sandbox and an all-abilities treehouse," the profile says. "Plus, there’s a dog park, a skate park, and an assortment of centers and pavilions available for rent for family get-togethers. Downtown Round Rock is a gathering place for dining, shopping, nightlife and events ranging from Music on Main to Beaujolais Nights."

Seven other Texas cities were also included in the list of best places to live in the U.S.: Flower Mound (875), Sugar Land (854 points), New Braunfels (758 points), Midland (712 points), College Station (711 points), Tyler (676 points), and Abilene (659 points).

The top 10 cities that earned the most points on Livability's list are: