Illustrative project
A gabled farmhouse on two wooded acres
Custom home in Dripping Springs
Designed and built under one roof
Hallvane is a design-build studio in Austin and the Hill Country. The people who draw your renovation, addition or new home are the people who price it and build it.
Six kinds of project, one way of working
Whatever the size of the job, it starts with measured drawings and a fixed price, and it is built by the people who designed it.
- Design and pre-constructionPlans, pricing and permits before anything is torn out
- Whole-home renovationReworking how an older house lives, room by room
- Kitchen remodelingKitchens planned around how you cook and gather
- Primary suites and bathsBathrooms and bedroom suites that age well
- Additions and casitasMore room, on the lot or on the house
- Custom homesNew houses designed for one family and one site
Selected projects
Illustrative case studies showing how this site presents a project: the brief, the design decisions, the build and the result. The stories are fictional; the photographs are licensed and credited.
Named for the open hall
Early Texas settlers often built two rooms under one roof with an open, covered passage between them. That passage, the dogtrot, caught the breeze and became the place where the household gathered.
Hallvane takes its name from that hall and the wind through it. Design sits in one room and building in the other, and the conversation between them stays open from the first sketch to the last inspection.
About the studioSix steps from first visit to move-in
Cost is known before construction starts, and every change is priced in writing before it happens.
First conversation and site visit
A short written summary of the visit and a proposed design agreement.
Design agreement and concept
Existing-condition drawings and priced concept options.
Design development and fixed price
A complete drawing set, a selections schedule and a line-item fixed price.
Permits and pre-construction
A construction schedule, permit status and confirmed lead times.
Construction
Weekly updates and written change orders, never verbal ones.
Walkthrough and aftercare
A handover binder, a punch list closed in writing and a one-year visit.
Where we work
Three areas with very different houses and rules. Each page explains what that means for your project.
- Central AustinBungalows, cottages and mid-century ranches on established streets: houses worth keeping, usually in need of a better plan.
- West Lake Hills and RollingwoodHillside lots, limestone, live oaks and views: houses that often face the wrong way, on sites that reward careful planning.
- Dripping Springs and DriftwoodAcreage, wide views and rural infrastructure: new homes and guest houses designed for the land they sit on.
What is design-build?
Design-build means one company designs and builds your project under one agreement. The people drawing the plans work alongside the people who price and build them, so cost and buildability are considered throughout the design.
How do you price a project?
After design development we issue a line-item fixed price built from trade quotes, with stated allowances for anything not yet selected. You see what each part of the project costs.
Will we need to move out?
For a kitchen or bath, usually not. For a whole-home renovation, usually yes for the main construction period. For additions, most work happens outside the house until the final connection.
Do you handle permits?
Yes. We prepare and submit permit drawings, respond to reviewer comments and schedule inspections. Review times vary by city and season, so we plan around current published times.
Start with a conversation
Tell us about the house and what is not working. The planner takes about four minutes, and the first site visit is free.