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!
Douglas Camin@ House on Rynkus Hill says
Also – I think my favorite design is the Starlight. It allows for the the (small) backyard to be relatively private and makes the best use of the corner lot design.
Dave LeBlanc says
Hey guys! I beat you to it in Canada, but nice story 😉
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/home-and-garden/architecture/home-design-and-a-growing-thirst-for-the-retro-modern/article22697658/
pam kueber says
Well, yes, you did! Hi Dave! I will post a link to your story in mine.
Douglas Camin@ House on Rynkus Hill says
Yay! I’m glad the tip worked out. These are some great home designs, and to have them all together in one little neighborhood will really make for some great visual impact.
I see some discussion on the Facebook post about how close this is (or is not) to the city of Austin – Leander is one of the outer suburbs of the city. It has a good highway connection right into the city.
Lynda jones says
Thanks for telling Kate about us! ❤️
Douglas Camin@ House on Rynkus Hill says
Welcome! You can really thank my sister (who still lives in the Austin area – I lived there 13 years growing up) – she saw it and was immediately like “I need to tell Doug.” Ha!
Beverly says
Fantastic! I’d want a smaller one, like the Gemini or Palm Springs. Breeze block and a pink or mint bathroom.
I hope this is a success.
Melinda says
I wonder if they would consider selling house plans once their development is complete? I have no plans to move to Austin, but I’d love a house like this someplace else.
Carolyn says
Is it just me, or haven’t we seen this before?
https://retrorenovation.com/2013/12/05/diy-putz-house-village-midcentury-modern/
And, Kate, did you warn them of the potential dangers of these homes?
https://retrorenovation.com/2015/12/11/dollhouse-christmas-exterior/
pam kueber says
tee hee
Robin, NV says
I love this! It reminds me very much of the Westlake District in Daly City, California. The Westlake developer was also concerned that his houses were not cookie cutter so he offered an amazing array of facades for a few, simple floorplans.
ElectraChime says
Yes. Doelger got a bad rap because the backs of the houses, often visible from the highways, did and do look cookie cutter.
Dan says
What a exciting idea. I certainly wish them all success.
As in probably true in most of the country, in my area most new homes are either Artsy Craftsy which, if not overdone, really isn’t so bad, or – horror of horrors – that faux Georgian/Colonial stuff that invariably features a large arch window over a front door that opens onto a “grand double height entry”, and an elaborate brick or stone façade – with the other three sides in the cheapest vinyl siding. There is a development of these going in down the road from me, starting at $700,000. The irony is, as traditional as these homes may look from the outside, inside they invariably try to mimic the open floor plan of MCM design.
I’ve always wondered why mid-century style is still considered too “outre” for new building. I have a few ideas.
Too many folks today still want big (3,000 sf and up) houses, and I think MCM style works best on a more modest scale. Too large and even the best designs can start looking institutional.
Surprisingly, a lot of the high end MCM homes were not that well built by today’s standards. There is a renowned development of MCM homes near me that went in in the late 50’s/early 60’s. They look great, but talk to anyone that lived in them as originally built and they will tell of freezing in the winter, roasting in the summer, and constantly dealing with flat roofs that leak. These homes were built before the technology was available to make them energy efficient. It could be some folks will always associate MCM design with discomfort.
Anyway, I look forward to updates on this development. Good luck!
Lisa says
Yes, I live in a MCM home and it’s my husband’s childhood home, complete with a pink bathroom! The roof pitch is wrong on one part of the house, and it’s always been plagued with leaks.
maria says
Yes, growing up the Eichler’s were considered near ghetto neighborhoods because of the cheaply made housing. They are plagued with problems and cost a huge amount to upgrade to fix. They are pretty though, but really were made as cheap affordable housing. Don’t think anyone would go for the pressed board aka nearly cardboard kitchen cabinets today. However, the layouts and if the windows were double pane? Love it.
Wish they would’ve included some with center courtyards, those are my favorite, but it might be too hot there for that.
Matt jones says
Most of the plans have a private coutyard
Lynda jones says
Metal roofing trends have helped address the old leaky roofs. General rule of thumb is, if the pitch is less than 3/12 it needs to be something other than a shingle or asphalt roof (metal.)
Joan Defenbaugh says
I feel like I’m in a dream. This is awesome news. We need these here in Ohio too. I’ll find the land and Starlight can come here to build it. I’m going to Austin this summer, so this is officially part of my trip to go see the progress!
Rick S says
Kate,
I love the idea of this new development. Maybe the house info should also include the Retro Renovation web site. Get the buyers off to a good start.
The other thing I was hoping is that there might be a few new PINK bathrooms.
rick
pam kueber says
Yes, a few new pink bathrooms — we can hope!
Mary Elizabeth says
Maybe such projects will inspire Gerber to make the Bahama Pink toilet again.
Chris says
And surely to heaven, no granite.
Matt jones says
We have sourced pink tile for those who dare