I think that all of us retro-philes dream of being able to hop in a time machine, zip back to 1960 and build, customize and decorate a midcentury home of our own. Get ready to pinch yourself, because for those living in metro Austin, Texas, this opportunity is becoming a reality. No, we haven’t invented a time machine, but we have the next best thing — a new midcentury styled neighborhood called Starlight Village — with eight different architect-designed retro style home models to choose from — that is being built right now, and we have the scoop! Mega thanks to Doug from Facebook for this terrific tip!
Construction on the Starlight Village neighborhood, which will include a total of 29 homes, began in January 2016. The neighborhood is set up so that the eight different sizes and styles of midcentury homes are built on specific lots, creating a pleasant mix of houses and avoiding a ‘cookie cutter’ housing development look. The homes are sized from 1,369 sq. ft. to 2,400 sq. ft. depending on the model and have fun names like the “Palm Springs,” “Telstar” and “Cocoa Beach.” Prices start around $270,000, depending on the design chosen and the level of finish selected. There’s basic — like polished concrete floors, and up — like terrazzo floors, Eichler paneling and Roman Brick for an additional cost.
I contacted Lynda Jones, co-owner of KLM Design Build, the exclusive builders of Starlight Village, who kindly answered my many questions:
Q. How did the idea for this community come together, and what made the developer/builder decide to choose midcentury style homes?
The idea for the MCM came from one of the developers, Mike Kopecky. He grew up in the time period and had an interest in the MCM (midcentury modern) era and wanted to build a whole community of them. His father was in the military and they lived in similar style housing. It reminds Mike of his childhood. He and his dad, Willie Kopecky, are the developers.
Willie Kopecky is 82 years old, very active, bright and energetic. He owns a lot of land in Williamson County. Over the years he seemed to have a gift of buying just the right piece of land and holding it for the perfect amount of time. Now he is letting Mike develop the property in Leander for Starlight Village. He also owns more property, that is just sitting and waiting on the right opportunity. We are considering doing a mixed use property next in Leander.
There are three players in the mix, land owner (Willie Kopecky) , developer (Mike Kopecky) and builder (Matt Jones and myself of KLM Design Build also known as KLM Custom Homes.)
The exclusive builder for Starlight Village is KLM Custom Homes. My husband and I are the owners. We have been building in this area for 10 years. We built our first home in 1996 in the Dallas Fort Worth area. We are mostly a “build on your lot” custom builder but have done some light subdivision work in the past (Daum Estates and Estates of Walburg.) We met Willie while inquiring about a piece of commercial property that he had for sale. He wanted us to come look at some property that he was holding in Florence as well. We formed a friendship, and Willie thought we might be the perfect complement to Mike’s work. (Mike has never built a home or done any subdivision work but he has done some remodeling.) Willie wanted someone he could trust and someone who would not only help Mike, but also teach him along the way. Prior to entering the building industry, Matt and I were both teachers so it just came natural!
Q. How did you choose how many and what style home models to offer in Starlight Village?
Mike worked closely with the architects and wanted to make sure there was enough variety in the neighborhood that the homes would not appear “cookie cutter” in nature and would retain some uniqueness. We wanted to offer a variety of sizes and prices to meet more of the public’s needs as well as present some of the architecture of the MCM era. It was hard to choose or limit it to the few that we did, but we narrowed it down to about eight with variations within those models as well.
Q. How is the community coming together? Have most of the lots/homes sold? Has there been a lot of interest due to the midcentury style of Starlight Village?
The community is coming along very well. We have all of the utilities in place and buried, the roads are cut, the retention pond is in place, the forms and rough plumb are complete on the first six models and the fence is starting next week. There has been quite a lot of interest. I have had about 175 realtors respond to my Facebook announcement that these were coming. This is pretty amazing given that there are only 29 units being offered in total. The first weekend we launched the website, we had over 2,000 hits.
Q. How many homes have been built as of this time?
As of this time, no homes are complete yet.
Q. Midcentury homes were often modest in size. I see you offer plans ranging in square footage from 1371 sq. ft. to 2000+ sq. ft. Have you noticed buyers favoring the smaller styles or the larger ones?
Our buyers have been all over the place with square footage but I would have to say that a majority of them prefer the larger square footage so far.
Q. I see you offer some authentic midcentury building materials as options in some of your home models — features like terrazzo flooring and decorative concrete blocks. Have you found these midcentury materials difficult to source at all?
Mike has been in charge of all of the chasing down of the authentic materials as it is his passion. He has been able to find sources for them all. Some are at reasonable prices and some are at a more “rare” type pricing. Even though this may be a little expensive for some, we wanted to offer it to those that have more of a purist desire in the MCM style.
Q. Does each home come with a complimentary pair of pink yard flamingos at closing?
I love that idea! I’ll have to pass it along to Mike. I’m sure he would go for it. We are possibly getting an AirStream for our jobsite trailer until models are complete to go with the Mid-Century theme.
Mega thanks to Lynda for taking the time to answer all my questions and for providing us with renderings of the homes being built at Starlight Village.
Link Love:
- Starlight Village LLC’s website
- KLM Design Build
- And, Dave LeBlanc (a reader!), writer for Canada’s The Globe and Mail, beat us to this one. Read his story interviewing Mike Kopecky: Home Design and a Growing Thirst for the Retro-Modern … and
- I read in Dave’s story that architect Sean Eubanks of Woodhill Studios deserves a major shout-out, too.
- And then… I heard from Christian Musselman, who did the portraits of the homes. Nice! He also does house portraits for homeowners. Hmmmm… story to follow!
Laurie Louise says
Sometimes I’m just proud to be a Texan.
Jason Van Steenwyk says
Let’s start organizing neighborhood potlucks now! Can I publish the official Starlight Village Cookbook?
Ideas, people. I need ideas.
Edwin says
I recommend the iBook “Jet Age Cooking.” Classic Mid-Century cuisine: https://jetagecooking.wordpress.com
Jason Van Steenwyk says
I will totally buy a beer for the first real estate agent who serves an old-fashioned pistachio-jello and poached meatloaf salad at an open house.
Jason Van Steenwyk says
Formica metal flake counter tops or GTFO.
pam kueber says
Except ya can’t get them anymore. How about Retro Renovation (R) by Wilsonart! https://retrorenovation.com/2016/02/24/retro-renovation-by-wilsonart-boomerang-laminate-now-available-online-at-home-depot/
Janie4 says
My only complaint is that almost all of the plans have the master closets really only available through the bathroom. Not my preference, but that’s a personal quirk. Other than that, beautiful
Cynthia says
janie4- yes, I see that too. agree with you.
Jil Sonia McDonald says
How absolutely divine – what a wonderful idea! I’m sure that development will come along so nicely. Would love to see updates!
Linda says
Ermahgerd. These look cool and I love that someone is doing this! I can’t wait to see more as they progress.
ineffablespace says
The proof will be on the interior details and what trim level the typical buyer accepts.
Here the prevailing exterior style is “urban contemporary”: row houses with large glass areas, metal and brick sheathing, etc., and the floorplans are very open, but the detailing is really transitional with paneled doors and relatively trim (flattish but substantial) and combos of large format tile with glass mosaics and traditional plumbing fixtures.
I collect Architectural Digest from certain years (primarily 1963 or so until 1975 or so), and there were a fair number of tall ceilings even in the most contemporary houses although the period is well known for low ceilings, generally. So that detail is fine.
But the architectural details like millwork, if they weren’t minimal to absent (which is very expensive to execute) were a number of things that people now associate with “cheap” or “skimpy”: clamshell moldings and casings, drywall returns on windows or other openings, slab doors. I think that to some extent this is an unfair generalization, but it’s one that many people have automatically.
Generally, I think it is the scale of the materials on the interior which will be telling: large format tile, anything Shaker-ish, European style bar pulls, largish, arched faucets, too-blingy contemporary lighting–these sorts of things will plant the houses pretty firmly in the 2000s.
While I agree the end-point doesn’t have to be a re-creation or a museum (this would be awfully expensive anyway), if I were picking the finishes, I would err on the side of going-toward-re-creation, using materials that were at least available at the time these houses are supposed to represent, rather than materials that are clearly recent. But I am not sure that the general buyer, even of something this “period” referential would want some of those details, even though they are accurate/appropriate.
pam kueber says
You make many great points, ineffable. These homes (and originals being renovated today) can go either retro-authentic or retro-contemporary (meaning 2016ish).
Retro-Authentic would suggest: 9″ tiles [ceramic, VCT or wood] on the floors in living, dining and bedroom areas… or wall-to-wall carpet. Retro-Contemporary — which we really should just call Contemporary — would suggest large format neutral color tiles or perhaps a wide plank hardwood. Terrazzo is, I see, a choice. Hurrah: Retro-authentic.
R-A: Laminate countertops. R-C: Today the au-courant market wants quartz (granite is “out”)
Bathrooms: Retro-authentic would give us 4×4 or 2×2 or 1×1 tiles on the wall and random mosaics on the floors. In pastels. Contemporary: Large format, Duravit, etc.
My house, built 1951, has clamshell moldings. I call them ranch-style moldings. Anything else would look ridiculous. I put this in the category: Midcentury Modest.
ineffablespace says
To some extent I think there are some contemporary materials, or some new in the 1970s-80s materials that look appropriate enough to stand in and look appropriate enough in post-war to 1980s houses.
I am using Corian in my bathrooms. Not available in 1965. But I don’t really like drop-in sinks, I want the convenience of undermount. Certain solid surface colors and patterns are reasonable stand ins for historic laminate or cultured marble countertops. Not feeling too guilty about this one, especially because there are so few appropriate laminates. My house is post boomerang, pre flower power and Brutalist. The laminate would have been a plain color, probably not one available today.
In the kitchen, it’s so small that if I can afford it, I will use Stainless Steel. But again, certain solid surface colors and patterns and certain Quartz colors and patterns will stand in for laminate. Sometimes you need to look at “Commercial” or “Designer” to see all of what’s really available rather than “Homeowner”. Again I have no problem using stainless, it was rare enough that it was used in any decade, just rarely. People actually did use marble or granite in the 1960s and 1970s, it just wasn’t mass market. And it was not wildly colored or patterned (Except Nero Marquina which I’ve seen in midcentury baths and kitchens here). And I don’t think there was obsessiveness about invisible seams and templating. If there was a seam, you saw it.
ineffablespace says
Actually “Contemporary/ 21st Century Stand-Ins” for mid century materials –like solid surface, quartz, terrazzo-look, flooring, etc.
might be a good topic for some threads, for people who want the accessibility and/or performance quality of newer materials, but want the look of, or reference to, mid-century materials.
Douglas Camin@ House on Rynkus Hill says
I agree with your assessment here – I live in a 1960 back split built by my grandparents. Fortunately, the house was well built with good materials from the start (real wood Andersen windows, oak and mahogany stairs, shellacked oak floors, etc) and the details were kept intact. But since we’ve moved in there are still things that need to be updated. I call them the “Mid Century Compatible” upgrades. Some are small but noticeable (I replaced all of the outlets and switches so they would match) and some are big (new kitchen flooring – we used Armstrong Striations tile.) When we do work in the house we aim for the new finish to look like it could have been in the house originally, if it were available. One of the better compliments we can get is when someone walks through and declares that they can’t tell what is old and new – to me, it means we did it right.
I think the ability to do that highlights one of the nice aspects of mid century design: modernism easily accepts new styles and ideas without looking like an awkward graft of old versus new. In many ways it is a testament to how timeless many of the designs themselves are. The problem many people face is that they don’t recognize that, so the first attempt is to cover the MCM elements and neutralize them (painting paneling and door trim, etc.) Doing that often ends up making what was attempting to be covered more noticeable, rather than less.
As far as these houses go – I totally agree this could go authentic or modern on the finishes. Based on the designs and details laid out, it sounds like a lot of the interior details are from a pre-selected set (good-better-best), so my hope is that final look is that the finishes feel as though they would have been original to a vintage house, had they been available. Perhaps some of the new owners of these homes will be RR readers too and share photos of their new homes when completed.
J D Log says
Apart from some grey there are some really great designs here I wonder what the insides will look like. I hope Australian Architects and developers will see this I get sick of seeing grey and black boxes which take up every inch of land.
Clank says
If we’re talking new construction, as an avid Retro Renovation reader, I’m obviously a fan of mid-century modern design. But as an urban planner, I have to add my two cents that I hope this community is built as sustainably as possible and within walking distance to transit and amenities. As we RR readers know, our existing older houses are far greener than anything new for many reasons including more modest sizes, quality materials, and accessible locations. But interesting development. I don’t mean to be a buzz kill.
Meghan says
I was thinking along similar lines. the houses are really cute, but there were real limitations to the suburban communities these kinds of places were originally built in – they tend to be very car-dominated and not very walkable. I would hate to see those problems replicated along with the aesthetic.
Gary says
Clank, Leander is a small town north of Austin. Not really “urban”. I agree with you on walkability. Due to a health issue, I sold my car about 10 years ago, in order to force myself to walk, which I do, at least 5 miles a day. Even shop at my local HEB and carry big bags of groceries home, which is a couple miles away!
I live about 60 miles north of Austin, a medium sized town. Not really a “walkable” city. My only gripe is the lack of sidewalks where I often walk. We have buses, sorta, but who cares, I’m walking for my health, which thankfully has returned and I’m better than before!
I think it should be required that every neighborhood as well as business area has sidewalks. Sidewalks everywhere! I spent 30 years in the automobile business, and am what you call a “car guy” and I used to race motorcycles, but I almost feel evangelical about walking and encourage everyone I see to get out and walk a significant amount daily! You’ll be happier and healthier.
These MCMs are simply beautiful. The new “modern” homes you see the hipsters in Austin and other left wing cities building are simply ugly and cold. No heart, no soul. The MCM, while often a little “spartan” has a soul, a vibe, an energy unlike any other home. They were generally well designed and easy to live in. The style said “streamlined” and “modern” [many scream “jet age”] but didn’t sacrifice what a home is all about. I hope we see more of these MCM villages pop up in Texas!