Name: Julie Gomoll
Location: Austin, Texas
Size/Room: 3,000 sq. ft
Years lived in: 12 years
Julie has done it all — grew (and then sold) a business, travelled the world (literally), swum with sharks, and read a library's worth of books. Someone this fun, adventurous, and creative is bound to have a unique home, right? Well, is her vintage Chambers stove red?
Julie's home is a bit of an architectural marvel. The first Austin home designed by Lake | Flato, one of Architectural Digest's top designers of 2012, is an masterpiece with lines and inspiration from the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright. Julie, making the space her own, has added interest and a story to every corner. A globe stands fittingly in the center of the main living area, a perpetual reminder of all the travels and adventures she has taken over the years. Quite a collection has amassed from these travels; pictures and art from Bali to Zimbabwe can be seen thoughtfully arranged throughout the home's expanse.
As a web developer and entrepreneur Julie manages to fit a good amount of technology into the space as well. A 100" home theater projection screen sits as unassumingly as one can in a corner of one of the upstairs rooms. This same room is also home to the first computer she custom-built. Her primary workspace is downstairs in the main living area. There, on a simple desk placed strategically in front of a picture window, you will find a Macbook Pro and an iMac. Overlooking the garden and courtyard, the nook has a view of the overhanging wisteria that blooms during the short Texas spring.
The four classical elements — earth, wind, water, fire — are represented at each main corner of the home and create its most distinguishing characteristics. A custom fire red Chambers stove, crafted of heavy gauge steel and porcelain enamel, serves as the bright focal point to the kitchen. A true antique, its form and style are timeless. In another corner of the home, an industrial-looking outdoor shower stands paramount. The large steel pipe serves as a literal burst of water into the open air. Its design is simple, harsh, yet glorious.
These two corners of the home are joined by the earthen elements of the library. Wooden shelves filled with books of all subjects and disciplines form the walls. A burnt umber stained-concrete stairway diverges underneath a glass roof. When the sun rises, its rays shine through the glass and illuminate their common landing. Hello. Good morning.
Apartment Therapy Survey
My style - Artsy nerd with a dash of whimsy? Is that a style?
The inspiration for my home office - My various travels from around the world.
Favorite element in your space - Hands down the outdoor shower.
Biggest challenge in designing my space - Scale. It was hard to manage the size of the rooms and height of the walls. Everything I brought in looked small, but I was able to address the solution by drawing the eye to several different levels with ledges, art, and other decorative elements.
What friends say about my space - "Oh man, this is awesome." And my mom said "Oh! I had no idea you were so creative!" :)
Area where there is room for improvement - The house is wired for sound, but it's not at all wired for tech. All the stone and concrete makes connectivity -- wired and wireless -- a major pain.
Proudest DIY (do it yourself) project - The magnetic spice rack in the kitchen pantry.
Biggest indulgence with respect to my space - Truly awesome parties.
Best advice about organizing or incorporating tech into the home - Think ahead and leave room for growth. Leave spaces and cabling accessible for expansion.
Dream source for stuff - Art fairs, art galleries, and world travel.
Resources
Tech Hardware
- Macbook Pro
- iMac
- Mac Mini
- iPhone
- iPad
- hand-built PC
- couple of old PC laptops
- Sharp projector
- Integra Receiver
- Sonus Faber speakers
- 100" projection screen
- Xbox
- PS2
Appliances
- Fire Engine Red 1950s custom Chambers range
- Subzero fridge
Furniture
- Couches and chairs designed by myself from local custom furniture shop
- The bed is from a boutique no longer around
- Dining table is from Pottery Barn
- Modular desk is from Container Store
- Giant red picnic table made by a craftsman in Georgetown
- Harlequin chest of drawers from Zinger Hardware
Accessories
- Cuisinart
- Zojirushi
- Hamilton Beach
Lighting
- Pottery Barn and several now-defunct local boutiques.
Additional Elements
- Artwork from Austin, France, Italy, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Turkey, Mexico, Greece, Egypt
• Julie's wonderful home is now for sale in Austin by Nanette from Austin Fine Properties. Julie is still doing her thing on the internet, and you can read more about her at her website.
Thanks Julie!
(Images: Chris Perez)
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admire!
love those stair rails!
love the peter gabriel piece in the stairwell. ;o)
Great bookcases filled with books.
I would have liked fewer close up pictures of objects and more wide angle pictures so I could get a better feel for how everything went together.
What a fun home! And a fellow border collie lover! :)
31 pictures and I have no idea what the space looks like.
Ok.... The house tour didn't really seem cohesive and while I admire the international art, I didn't really feel like this house is where someone actually "lives." I don't know. Just didn't really do it for me. :(
There are things I found interesting (the stove vent, for example). I truly am flummoxed about many of the other pictures though. There's a desk, with a chair and a computer and an undressed window. There's a giant TV screen on a blank wall. There's a bookcase with a bunch of (gasp!) books in it. I tried and tried to keep myself from making a snide comment. Especially because Julie looks like someone I'd probably like. But this collection of photos just feels like passive aggression.
The stove is beautiful..although the pans look somewhat out of place on the hood (which is awesome).
I like the library, but I cant tell what the house looks like due to the bad layout of photos etc. The theater room looks awkward and uncomfortable.
I like the porch; especially the red picnic table.
I absolutely love your house, really classy. Simple, beautiful and so useful. Not many people get that. Your an inspiration. Thanks for sharing.
That fireplace and stove are amazing, but I have to the others who said this house tour seems really jumbled. I couldn't get a feel for the space.
In my Crayola box the colors were Raw Umber and Burnt Sienna. But I have since discovered they can both be raw and burnt. Who knew?
I loved the doubledecker windows in this house.
Not "my cup of tea", really. Cannot find the "personality", but loved the use of stone in the outside steps. And the dogs.
It is hard to understand the totality of the house, but that didn't made me love it less. I adore the house. The light, the garden, wow! The details are ver interesting and the library is fantastic. The pictures are just not enough...
Good taste and originality. Love the art, love the library, love the red accents bringing that splash of color. Definitely a different turn from others I have seen in AT. I love the garden/terrace. And I love the dogs! Well done and a good reflection of the owner's independent and creative character. Congratulations!
That is just about the ponciest house description I've ever read on AT. I can't work out if this home tour is about validating Julie or validating her house, because it's very hard to get a feel for the latter.
Add me to the list of readers wishing the photos were better. :( The house seems really unique and very cool, but those photos don't give a good narrative at ALL. You can't discern the layout, and the constant up-close photos of vignettes around the house should be the departure rather than the norm in a "house tour". I gave up when I got to the photo of the wall and ceiling, with a smack of bookcase near the bottom.
Disappointing, considering how interesting the architecture is. Womp womp.
I love the outside shower! I normally love white walls, but these look very cold and uninviting.
Cool stove, metal 'dog' clock, library-
However I expected to be WOW'D. When I read she decorated her home with items from her travels, I was surprised to see so litte. I agree with 'fallingup' about the theater room.
But you gotta give it to someone who has 4 dogs! That's a whole lotta loving there.
I have stove envy...
I love what I can see of this!
To be fair, it is labelled "tech tour", not "house tour", so one probably can't expect to see much of the actual house.
Also, houses, by their very nature, being mostly larger and usually having more discrete spaces than apartments, are going to be harder to fit into a tour of a reasonable length.
This is just one problem with the preponderance of tours of houses, rather than apartments. But clearly that is the way AT is going. I count 13 house tours and 4 apartment/studio tours so far this month; the same period last year the breakdown was 50/50.
(I'm laid up after an op at the moment, so yes, I do have too much time on my hands, and my count may be wonky).
Sorry, I don't see the "artsy" in this house tour, the photos are terrible, what's with the shots of random corners and computers with cords hanging out everywhere? A cool stove doesn't make a cool house....
Love this home: the marriage of the thick stone walls and the metal windows and doors. The books, the garden. Love how it is just itself, organically, and not over-designed.
You had me at the red Chambers stove!
My kid whines much less than some posters. If you want to see more of the house, then go see the virtual tour at the real estate agent's website! It's all there, laid out for you!
I love the house but don't think the photos due it justice. I'm not sure if it's because this is a "tech tour" or because of the open layout and size of the house. 2 bedrooms and 3000 sq ft. Wow! The additional photos on the listing site do give a better sense of the space. I love the stove and the kitchen cabinets and counter space are amazing. The outdoor space looks beautiful.
Since when is a 3000 foot house an apartment? I thought this website was about how to live well in small spaces. I would like to see more spaces inspired by The Perfectly Imperfect House.
it's undoubtedly a structurally beautiful home but it could be so much more. i don't get the tech part since everyone nowadays has a flatscreen and a mac. this isn't meant as a criticism, but ms. gomoll obviously has no great interest in decor. it just felt like a story was built around a random house rather than the house being the story itself.
I have to say, I agree with many of the other posts. The house is amazing, but I couldn't get a sense of any of the rooms from these pictures. Everything I wanted to see was just at the edge of the shot. The red Chambers stove really pulled me in, so I was really disappointed not to see a full kitchen/dining shot.
This is the 2nd tech tour I've seen in as many weeks with lots of cords exposed. Love it! Makes me feel much better about the chord chaos in my house :)
I would love to see a floor plan to get a sense of how the house flows. It looks really amazing, but hard to tell from the photos. The garden has the best photos, in my opinion.
Great house, love the sense of timelessness with the thick walls and stone. Not crazy about the owner's style, but to each her own.
It's an AD guys - the house is for sale.....................
The virtual tour at the realtor's website gives one a better feel of the house. Doesn't look like it's occupied, more an attempt at staging.
The book shelves filled with books are a dream! I love the outdoor shower, but maybe a potted plant in a bright container would liven it up. The pic with the folders and cpu just looks tacky and like an unfinished space. Maybe the uninteresting photos weren't weeded out.
This home is lovely, full of light and vibrancy. Love the kitchen, the outdoor spaces, the library/stair well area. All good grist for my mill.
to you naysayers: yes, the photos could be better. But I've seen a lot worse, but interestingly not such negative comments.
I was and still am, delighted to FINALLY see a home owned/decorated by someone over 37! I was starting to think AT had some weird age restriction. Now that I've seen all the comments I'm wondering how that plays into all your comments. Think about it.
Love so many elements of this house. I adore the red vintage stove. I also love the creeping fig softening the lines of the exterior, and of course the adorable dogs!
My wife did the ikebana flower arrangements in the bathroom and living room. You can see more of her work at Austin Ikebana. That house has a really unique layout. The upstairs rooms would be awesome for older kids.
@GHWdesign,
Couldn't agree with you more (except I thought it was more like 32)!
Wonderful!
@GHWdesign
Agreed!
Thanks for all the comments, folks. Just thought I'd clarify a few things...
I do indeed live here now, and have for the past 12+ years. I've been gradually getting rid of some of the furniture upstairs (in the studio, theater, and what used to be my office) in anticipation of selling the house and moving to a smaller place.
As for the layout — it's an L-shaped house. Basically 2 large areas downstairs and 2 large areas upstairs. It's a very open floorplan, which I love. As a few folks have mentioned, you can get more of a feel for the rooms on the virtual tour on the realtor site.
It has been awesome living here. I've had some truly memorable parties, and have a ton of great memories. I'll miss it, big time.
Hi Julie,
I have an identical red Chambers stove. I've been looking for a hood and really like yours! Mind sharing who made it?
Beautiful house!