San Antonio Parade of Homes Designer

Debbie Baxter

I am excited to announce that for the 2012 Parade of Homes in the Dominion, Mattern & FitzGerald has struck an agreement with Debbie Baxter Designs to help assist us with this project.  This is probably the first and last time you'll see a Longhorn and Aggie work together peacefully (just kidding).  Debbie has done commercial work, residential, vacation homes, luxury yachts and luxury highrises.  You may have read most recently about The Broadway, San Antonio's first luxury highrise in Alamo Heights- well her firm designed the interior and it is stunning.  Her website is http://baxterdesigngroup.com/.  Holly Hickey is also helping us and she is an incredible talent.  We are so fortunate to have them on our team and looking forward to an incredible Parade.  Take time to visit their website if you get a chance and view some of their incredible work.

Parade of Homes 2012

The rectangular windows above are called clerestory

I am very excited to announce that Mattern & FitzGerald Custom Builders has agreed to enter into the Parade of Homes for 2012.  The Parade is undergoing some changes this year, with the first Parade being held the last weekend in May on Memorial Day weekend and continuing through the next 10 days for a total of 2 weekends.  The thought being the weather will be much cooler for visitors.  The Parade location will be in The Aragon in Dominion, which is the last undeveloped property in Dominion and located near the new 3rd gate near the Camp Bullis exit and TMI.  There will be another Parade later in the year with more affordable housing with time & place to be determined.

We will be showcasing some very interesting architecture this year.  It will be one of the smaller homes in the Parade, but will have some very progressive elements that I think you will find very interesting.  The picture above is not one of our homes, but it illustrates a point of something we will be doing this year.  The small, rectangular windows you see above are referred to as clerestory windows.  They are designed to allow more light to come in and really open up the space.  One effect that we will play off of is to appear to make our roof "float".  It will be a very different concept than traditional big roof plans that you are probably used to seeing.  Over the next few months, I will attempt to explain some of the different elements that we are doing, without spoiling the surprise when you come see us.  Mark your calendars and save the date for what should be an amazing show this coming year.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Amazing Kitchen Remodel in 7 Weeks

I wish I could sit here and tell you this was easy, but I'd be lying to you.  I also wish I could find the before photo of this kitchen and bar because it looks completely different.  When remodeling, the first thing you have to do is start with a clean slate.  That means in this case a week of demo, tying down old electrical and plumbing, and game planning for new electrical and plumbing.  You should see it, we write on the walls, the floor the ceiling- everywhere.  It looks like graffiti and a war zone all at the same time.  Then we patch up the walls, paint, get the cabinet guys in and start measuring for cabinets.  This ceiling and lighting                                                                        is new as well,

and it required some framing and repositioning of duct work to pull it off.  These customers were awesome in the sense that they were living there for a good majority of the project and were very patient and kind.  I love before and afters because you get such a great return on effort in such a short amount of time.  They are not easy, and often you miss things that are unforeseen but they are certainly rewarding when finished.  Check out the cool edge the homeowner chose for the island, probably one of my all time favorites.  If you don't think it's that great it's probably because you're not there in person but it's really cool how the granite company fabricated the edge.