Texas Ranch Revamp

Blair Burton coaxed the cool out of a 1960s Austin house that was stuck in the past

- ELIZABETH HUTCHISON HICKLIN

IF IT'S POSSIBLE to feel at home in a construction zone, Blair Burton does. "My dad was a builder, so I'd always lived in houses that were being redone," says the Texas interior designer. The proverbial apple didn't fall far from the tree, and Blair and her husband, Michael, spent years living (and working) amid the organized chaos of their own renovation projects. But in a timely pre-pandemic move, the pair-who have two children and a black goldendoodle named Boomer-decided to put down permanent roots in late 2019, scooping up a unique two-story ranch in Austin's Westover Hills neighborhood.

"It had been on the market for five days, which was a long time in this part of Austin then," Blair says. Admittedly, their expectations were low regarding the condition of the 1960s home. The dated interiors and funky exterior paint job, which reflected a 1980s reno, met some of those assumptions. But the Burtons also recognized its potential. For Michael, it was the wide driveway-big enough for a half-size basketball court for the kids-that sold him. For Blair, it was the solid architectural bones. "The house had tons of natural light, and the front living room had big floor-to-ceiling windows, which are really hard to replicate today because of the cost," she says.