CG&S Design-Build

Every field has its own vocabulary.

When meeting with clients, the words and terminology we use may not be everyday language to them. This realization brings us to Design Language, a recurring field guide to terms that come up in our line of work and what they mean.

First up: roofs.

Austin Home is asking Austinites who belongs on its 2027 Best Builders list.

For nearly 70 years, we’ve had the privilege of designing and renovating homes in this city. If CG&S has renovated or built your home, worked alongside you, or simply made something you think belongs on the list, we’d be grateful for your nomination.

Nominations close November 13 at the link in our bio.

Thank you for keeping us in good company.

Every material choice is also a color choice.

Color theory starts with a simple idea: color doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Light, texture, and the materials around it all affect how a color is perceived once it’s in a room. Throughout this home, that idea was applied differently in each space: green and natural wood shaped the kitchen, pink set the direction for the girls’ bath, and the primary bath grew around Ijen Blue quartzite.

The homeowners wanted something personal, playful, and less tied to trends. Color became one of the ways to get there.

This house has been keeping Austin weird since 1975.

Designed by Austin architect John Covert Watson, the home is a ferrocement dome rooted in the organic architecture Watson practiced throughout Central Texas. He spent several years at Taliesin under Frank Lloyd Wright, but went on to develop a body of work here very much his own.

Over the years, the house was divided into separate residences and later brought back together as one family home. The kitchen was still dealing with the aftermath: low ceilings, layered systems, heavy concrete partitions, and very little connection to the living spaces around it.

The homeowners loved to cook, but with a ceiling as low as 6’-7”, the kitchen could feel cramped. CG&S raised most of it to 7’-4”, which meant sorting through and rerouting years of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing work before opening the kitchen back up to the rest of the main level.

A precise new kitchen at the center of a house defined by its curves.

Austin Home gave us three more reasons to celebrate this year!

CG&S was named Best Architect, Best Interior Designer, and Best Builder for 2026.

These awards recognize the hard work, talent, and creativity of a team that continues to deliver homes of the highest quality to the Austin area.

Austin Home Magazine

Happy National Dog Day to the four (or three) legged members of the CG&S family.

They may not make it into the office every day, but they’re very much part of the team. Swipe through to meet the dogs behind the people who design, build, and keep things moving around here.







DOTTY
Craig Kelly

SILVERADO
Craig Kelly

ASTRID
Alicia Vela

SISSY
Dolores + Stewart Davis

JOLENE
David Hipple

SCOUT
Lara Weber

ROCKY
Maudie Edwards

MOTLEY + BUDDY
Maudie Edwards

HORUS
Lyndsey Gauthier

BELLA
Lyndsey Gauthier

SUSIE
Lyndsey Gauthier

HERSCHEL
Lyndsey Gauthier

HARLEY + FREEBEE + HERZOG
Jennie Lane

MILLIE
Brooke Hilsabeck

LULU
Justin Quick + Iris Davis-Quick

GARY
Justin Quick + Iris Davis-Quick

HERSHEY
Benny Alley III

BONUS:
Baby Astrid

BONUS:
Baby HERZOG

Some things deserve a room of their own.

Making space work harder is at the heart of most design. A purpose-built room is intentional design. It communicates that something is important enough to warrant a dedicated space.

For this homeowner, that meant a room entirely his own. An uninspired, blank room was transformed into a “Mad Men”-style lounge, specifically designed for how he planned to spend his time. The room includes a bar, humidor, office, and cigar lounge, with a specialized ventilation system that allows him to smoke indoors.







A solution to a very practical problem.

This family already had a pool and outdoor kitchen but had no bathroom to serve that area. The new structure added a pool bath and outdoor shower, along with dedicated storage for the family’s camping gear.

An uncovered deck that constantly collected debris wasn’t giving these homeowners much reason to use it.

Adding a roof transformed it into a dedicated outdoor entertainment space surrounded by the existing oak trees. The trees mattered enough that the existing deck framing and post locations were carefully worked around, and even the roof was cut to accommodate one of the oaks.

For homeowners who hosted quilting groups, a hobby could take over the whole house.

Instead, they built it a room.

The addition gives them plenty of space for tables, chairs, and projects. An 18-foot-tall curved window wall allows natural light to fill the room.

This backyard gym started with a minimal setup put together during COVID: a barbell rack and rig on a concrete slab out back.

After working out in the Texas heat, the homeowners decided dedicating a space to working out year-round was a pretty good idea.

A large book collection had infiltrated this home. A dedicated library brought everything back together.

Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves line the interior walls and were designed to complement the homeowners’ collection and antique furniture.

A room for the messier kinds of creating.

The new workshop allows power tools and building activities to have their own space, away from the “clean” studio used for painting a

This pool house earns its square footage.

As part of a larger backyard transformation, this multi-use structure was created to handle a lot in a small package. A deep covered porch to hide away from the hot Texas sun, a cozy living room complete with a bar top, fridge, and hidden TV, an office that converts into a guest room with a wall-to-wall Murphy bed tucked behind a bookshelf, and a full bath with direct access to the pool area.

Our lead architect, Gina Andre, designed the pool house to feel like an extension of the home rather than a separate structure dropped into another part of the backyard. Cedar siding, stacked stone, and dark-framed windows carry the identity of the main house into this build. Designer Andria Eckert gave the interior an identity of its own with a light, retro mid-century feel.

All of this adds up to big living in a space that never reads as small. One that gets used often and feels like just another part of the home.

Most of us have a favorite spot. A little place to disappear into, whether it’s our usual end of the couch, a porch chair, or that warm window seat in the kitchen we spend our mornings in.

But did you know there’s actually some design logic behind why this feels so good? It’s called prospect-refuge theory, and it describes our natural pull toward places that offer both shelter and connection.

Which might explain why we especially love designing places to read. Whether it’s a nook, a window ledge, or a full-on library, the right reading space gives you somewhere to tuck in and let your attention wander.

And because every reading spot needs something worth getting lost in, we asked a few members of the CG&S team what they’re reading:

Brooke: The Song of Achilles by Madline Miller
Craig: Babel by R.F. Kuang
Iris: Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
Justin: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Benny: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss