54 DIGS.NET
| 4.16.2021
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L E G E N D S | T H E C O M M O D O R E P E R R Y E S TAT E
hen I first saw the property, I was simply
mesmerized," says interior designer Ken Fulk.
"It was as if a European country estate had
been transported to a bucolic Texas Hill Country
landscape. All of this, smack dab in the middle
of Austin." Originally designed by architect
Henry Bowers Thomson between 1917 and
1928, and owned by Edgar and Lutie Perry—
whose extensive European travels inspired the
10,800-square-foot Italian Renaissance Revival
mansion, carriage house and formal gardens—
this 10-acre estate is a true gem. Surrounded
by terraces, parterres and fountains, and listed
on the National Register of Historic Places, the
property needed some care to bring it back to
its former glory while infusing the new touches
that now make it a destination resort and private
club aligned with contemporary needs.
Architecture firms Clayton Korte and Moule &
Polyzoides and Ten Eyck Landscape Architects,
along with Fulk, collaborated on this unique
project, honoring its historic components both
inside and out. "The estate and surrounding
grounds are a piece of Austin heritage and
history," says Clayton Korte principal, Paul
Clayton. "We jump at the chance to repurpose
and reinvigorate those places to give them
longer, lasting life and to add more definition to
Austin. We had to address decades of wear and
tear that was consistent with what you would
expect of a building of this age in this climate.
Getting into the walls required us to interrupt
historic finishes. We had to put them back
together as though nothing had happened."
At the center of the property, the mansion's
entrance—with its original curving wrought-
W
"It was as if a Eu-
ropean country
estate had been
transported to a
bucolic Texas Hill
Country landscape.
All of this, smack
dab in the middle
of Austin."
