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Set against the rugged backdrop of West Texas, this renovation transforms a simple home into a serene retreat immersed in mountain and sky. Expansive glazing captures shifting light and distant peaks, while covered outdoor spaces invite connection to the land’s quiet rhythms. Warm wood ceilings and natural stone finishes echo the desert palette, creating a refuge for reflection and renewal. Designed as an escape from the city, the home celebrates its setting while offering a place to slow down, breathe deeply, and watch the horizon fade into starlit night.

Location

Alpine, Texas

Design Team

Joe Rivers and Kevin Barden

Renderings

WAL Studio

Typology

Residential

Date

2017

Process

Explore

Boulevard Oaks Addition

Listening to the language of the existing historic home, this addition of a new Garage Quarters, Outdoor Living, Pool, and Gardens blends seamlessly with the property’s original character while enhancing its functionality.

Falon Mihalic

Art and Design

In this episode, our resident architects Joe Rivers and Kevin Barden visit with Falon Mihalic, an award-winning landscape architect and artist from Houston, Texas. Joe and Kevin sat down with Falon to discuss how her childhood influenced her career path, her journey to becoming a landscape architect, and some of her current work.

A Place of Passing

Writing

In the summer of 2022, Kevin’s dad passed away. In this essay, Kevin reflects about the qualities of growing up in a geodesic dome as well as the beginnings of a deeper understanding of a “forever home”.