the shenandoah story

Building Shenandoah was a creative break for both of us. A shift in our professional lives allowed us to immerse in the project.  We lucked out finding an acre of land that had never been developed close to Austin. Starting this project with a clean slate was very exciting and appealing.

Casey’s lifelong interest in engineering sustainable living solutions was ripe for implementation. This project afforded him the opportunity to apply the latest best practices in green building science, systems design, and solar energy.  With the help of an architect he had discovered years before when researching “passive solar design”, we set about to design our Shangri La.

We chose to general contract the construction ourselves, and while being a huge challenge with many late nights researching and early mornings solving problems, it was a tremendously rewarding journey.  

Built with intention to incubate and nurture creativity, I have discovered that more than a place, “home” is a feeling...a feeling of peace, warmth, spirit, and creativity which only grows stronger when shared. Bringing together people with diverse backgrounds yet similar interests, and fostering engaging, in-depth conversations over great food and drink has been a lifelong passion, and it is in this spirit that we created this space.