My wife and I had a dream of owning land in the country and it finally happened in 2013. We sat on it for awhile before deciding on a master plan (and let’s call it the in flux master plan). I recommend you try and do this if you buy land and have big plans like we did (7 structures!). We wanted to create a compound that our friends and family could one day enjoy. We started with a small guest house, which quickly became our getaway dream cabin.

Here’s the land we started with:

We started with a new road.

And then we began cleaning up the old mobile still left (we go back and forth between tearing it down or fixing it up).

The property was once a small cattle ranch, so there is an existing barn which is great.

Today’s Song: Wildewoman by Lucius

https://itun.es/i6BQ4yZ iTunes

Here are some of my favorite homes and outdoor spaces.

Since moving to Austin, these are the photos I go to for inspiration.

Today’s Song: Lump Sum by Bon Iver

https://itun.es/i6By86m iTunes

Hello. My name is Lauren Himmelvo. I come from a long line of do-ers (my father, a successful real estate developer, my mother, an accomplished interior designer for 30+ years). Oh, and my grandfather was a calligrapher – I don’t know where that fits in, I just thought I’d throw it out there. I’m writing this blog to share my experiences designing/building/renovating homes over the last 15 years. Currently I am working on a small cabin from the ground up (literally) outside Austin in hill country.

To give you a sense of who I am, because maybe you want to know what made me want to roll up my sleeves and put on a tool belt – I am a woman after all – I’ll give you some background on me:

My childhood was spent by the sea in Massachusetts. My parents had a habit of buying old palatial homes and restoring them from the ground up. I lived on construction sites quite a bit as a kid and came...