Cool Houses Austin » Hill Country Happenings

Southwest Austin Boasts New Eco-Friendly Homes!

admin — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 14:05:38 +0000

Green is blooming all over Austin and it is not just from all our recent rains! Several new eco-friendly green built neighborhoods are popping up all over southwest Austin and the new models are opening this spring. Come check out the new model at Las Casas Verdes which will feature 20 homes designed to meet LEED certification and Austin Green Building program standards. So what does this mean for the new homeowner who purchases one of these beautiful homes? How about not only a home made from eco-friendly and recycled materials, but one which boasts a 2200 gallon rainwater collection system, a 3-kilowatt solar panel system, metal roof, bamboo floors, and concrete countertops, and of course Energy Star appliances—all high tech ways to go green and a very livable 1800 sq. foot unique layout. Prices are starting in the mid $300,000s. Las Casas Verdes (which means Green Homes) are located very conveniently just off South Brodie on Sache Cove and Longview Rd. And if you are thinking of moving here and would like more info on other green neighborhoods or green homes, give us a call at Cool Houses Austin 512-665-7778. Spring is a wonderful time of year to move to Austin!

ACL Festival 2009

admin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:01:58 +0000

ACL Music Festival Zilker Park Outdoor Marquee

Calling All Music Fans! It’s ACL Festival time again! October 2-4, 2009, will bring 65,000 music fans a day to beautiful 350 acre Zilker Park located at 2100 Barton Springs Rd. near downtown Austin. The festival also is projected to inject some $30 million into the city’s economy! Who says music doesn’t pay? Austin City Limits Music Festival has gone from a small mostly Austin musicians festival in its inaugural debut in 2002 to one of the nation’s top music events which sells out ticket capacity months in advance. What a line-up is in store for 2009 lucky ticket holders! This year fans will have 8 stages and 130 acts to choose from including well-known headliners like Dave Mathews, Pearl Jam, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Levon Helm, Ghostland Observatory, Mos Def, and many more! Tickets sold out in August, but a few one day passes can still be had on places like Craig’s List . For a complete list of headliners for this year’s festival, click on the following link, Austin City Limits. If you are just visiting, then enjoy our beautiful city while you are here and call us if you would like to know more about the city or need a list of current properties for sale or rent in Austin! Vicki E. Phillips, Real Estate Broker/Owner of Cool Houses Austin@ 512-665-7778 for more info! We rent apartments, too! Ask us about the new move-in specials!

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center

admin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:09:12 +0000

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center is a native plant botanical garden located in Southwest Austin just off Loop 1. With its incredible array of native plants, water features including an aquaduct and viewing tower, it truly is a delightful treasure for Austin! And don’t forget to check out its art gallery to see what is currently on display. Until October 4 you will find the wonderful, magical origami of Joan Son. Some of her images are below. What a joy to behold an 8 ft. kimono made out of 900 pieces of paper!

And for you gardening buffs, be sure and mark your calendars for October 9-11. It is the center’s Fall Plant Sale & Gardening Festival! Sure to be a hit!

Earth Robe by Joan Son

Old Pecan Street Festival 2009

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:17:05 +0000

The Old Pecan Street Festival is celebrating its 31st year downtown on 6th Street. Great art (250 exibitions), local handcrafts, festival food, and over 80 acts on five stages to take in all in two days! Whew! There will be plenty of fun to be had for the kids, too. From a petting zoo to pony rides to flying high on the huge jumper areas, and at the last festival, there was even a climbing wall erected on the street! Just goes to show that the kids are way more adventurous than some of us attending the festival! Some of our favorites from the last festival: McClintock Photographics and the whimsical and fun folk art of Wayne Ayers. We also love the gorgeous watercolor originals by Patrick Sullivan who does wonderful portraits as well. We love art here in Austin! Don’t worry if you missed the Spring Festival. The next Old Pecan Street Festival will be September 26-27th of 2009. See their website for more info. And remember, if you want more information on living and playing in Austin or the surrounding Hill Country, just drop us an email or better yet, call us at 512-665-7778. Enjoy the slide show and the music of Austin’s own (and my favorite Latino band) Del Castillo from their same titled CD just released in 2009.

old-pecan-festival-20091

Austin Museum Day

admin — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:07:52 +0000

Every year the city of Austin hosts a free day to attend any and all 28 of its wonderful museums. Sunday, September 20, 2009, is the day this year! So, if you are visiting our lovely city or a local, get on out and enjoy some of these great museums. Our favorites this year to visit: The Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center at 4801 LaCrosse Ave. (just off South Loop 1 past Davis Ln.), The Texas Music Museum at 1009 E. 11 Street, and the Austin Museum of Art at 823 Congress. Both are having special events all day for this free event. For a complete list, click on the following link: Austin Museums. Have a wonderful time, take the kids, take yourself! It is a treasure that the city of Austin wants to share with you and your family!

Gruene Market Days

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:21:33 +0000

Have you visited historic Gruene, Tx. lately? Do you love antiques and collectibles and hidden little towns that just take your breath away? Well, if you haven’t been to this charming little hill country town located on the beautiful Guadalupe River, hop in the car for a trip back in time to this delightful litte gem located just 30 minutes north of San Antonio and about an hour south from Austin. Gruene Market Days are held on the 3rd full weekend of each month February – November from 10-5pm. Not only will you find beautiful outdoor plants and homemade jams and jellies to delight, but also wonderful local artisans displaying their art for sale. And if that isn’t enough, you can explore the shops that line the streets and eat at some of the wonderful award winning restaurants like The River House Tea Room which in my opinion is one of the best restaurants in Central Texas! Gruene also has delightful little shops lining both sides of main street. What a wonderful place to shop for those unique gifts that are sure to surprise and delight the lucky recipients. And just think, you are supporting someone’s dreams when you purchase something he or she has created with their heart and hands. And if you wander over to Gruene Hall which boasts the proud moniker of “ Oldest Dance Hall in Texas”, you can grab a cold drink and enjoy live music, too! Who knows who will be playing there? You might just be lucky and catch Lyle Lovett! What a great place to spend the day and evening!

Enjoy the slide show and be sure and visit Gruene, Tx on one of our beautiful hill country weekends! [[Show as slideshow]]

Sunset Valley Farmer’s Market

admin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 08:25:12 +0000

Celebrating its 11th year serving Austin, the award winning Sunset Valley Farmer’s Market is located at 3200 Jones Road, Sunset Valley (just off the 290 W access ramp between Brodie Ln. and Westgate) in the parking lot of the Toney Burger Center. It is open every Saturday morning rain or shine from 9am to 1pm. There is even weekly live music hosted by Jimmy Joe Natoli. Recently voted as one the top 5 farmers markets in the country by Eating Well Magazine, this wonderful market is a jewel in our Austin crown. So if you are searching for the best organic produce, grass-fed meats, fresh cheeses, unhomogenized milk and butter, fabulous fresh mushrooms, look no further this Saturday. The market also features wonderful local artisans for gift shopping and great specialty foods prepared on the spot, so you can enjoy a wonderful breakfast or lunch while you shop! Truly, a delight that we are so fortunate to have right here in Southwest Austin!

Austin City Art Festival 2009

admin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:32:12 +0000

Our lovely city of Austin, proved to be the perfect setting for some very mesmerizing and incredible art from artists selected from all over the country. The Austin City Art Festival 2009 sponsored by the Austin Museum of Art. The festival took place downtown at the 1st Street bridge beside the beautiful Colorado River, and included fine art, live music, and even a wonderful array of food vendors, too. From the gigantic kinetic wind-driven colorful animals of Fredrick Prescott to the delicate handblown glass of Joe Nielander, it was a feast for the eyes and the soul! Local artist extraordinaire, Jay Long, was also on hand to showcase his beautiful owl and cat art…If you haven’t seen his work, you have to check him out! And best of all, if you can’t spring the $12,000 for an original, you can do like Cool Houses Austin and take home one of his signed lithographs for a tiny fraction of the cost of the original! And of course, there was live music because this is the Live Music Capital of the World, but hey, our art shows are pretty phenomenal as well! Check out the slide show and the artists as well…And who knows, you may just end up with one of those life-size sculptures by Fredrick Prescott in your front yard! Click on the link below to see the show!

art-city-austin-2009

Austin Named Community Wildlife Habitat

admin — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 19:30:35 +0000

Once again, the city of Austin is honored! On March 12th, Mayor Bill Wynn and the city council accepted the National Wildlife Federations’ offiicial certification as a Community Wildlife Habitat. This makes Austin the first Texas city and the largest metropolitan city in the nation to be so honored! The main focus of the National Wildlife Federation Habitat program is to benefit plants, wildlife, and people through the creation of sustainable landscapes that require little or no pesticides, fertilizers or excess watering. And best news of all is that you can have your very own garden or yard certified as a wildlife habitat! Get officially recognized and the very cool sign to display in your yard by simply providing food, water, places for cover(shrubs, etc), places to raise young (again grasses or shrubs or nesting areas, and sustainable gardening(compost, mulch,etc) For more information on the project, simply click here: National Wildlife Federation

SXSW–Interactive Film, Music, Media Festival Austin 2009

admin — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 02:30:40 +0000

Austin, Tx.–Home of the most incredible blending of cutting edge technology, indie films, music, and (mayhem this past week anyway!) The week of March 18-22 brought over 1800 music performances to eighty stages all around Austin! Yep, 1800! If you didn’t get to see any of the SXSW music, don’t despair…Direct TV is broadcasting the highlights of most performances beginning at March 28th and March 29th on Music Channel 101. And one of our very favorites, Alejandro Escovedo, was honored as Musician of the Year at the Austin Music Awards on March 18th and then closed SXSW with an incredible midnight show at the Continental Club on March 22nd….As always, he was superb! To hear more of Escovedo, visit his site www.alejandroescovedo.com And to see trailers to some of the very cool, cutting edge indie films, go to www.sxsw.com/film

And to hear the music on Direct TV–Channel 101 March 28th 7pmET

SXSW Day 1 (8 hour block) replays on Saturday, 3/28 starting at 7pm ET/4pm PT
(Times shown are Eastern)

7pm – Lenka
8pm – Ben Harper and Relentless7
9pm – Third Eye Blind
10pm – The Oak Ridge Boys
11pm – Shiny Toy Guns
12am – Carlene Carter
1am – Sol-Angel & the Hadley Street Dreams (Solange Knowles)
2am – The Airborne Toxic Event

SXSW Day 2 (8 hour block) replays on Sunday, 3/29 starting at 7pm ET/4pm PT
(Times shown are Eastern)

7pm – Forever the Sickest Kids
8pm – Echo and The Bunnymen
9pm – Ed Harcourt
10pm – Juliette Lewis and The New Romantiques
11pm – Late to the Pier
12am – Shwayze
1am – Tinted Windows
2am – The Proclaimers

Catch it if you can!