Hobbs’ Ink Blog

It has been a while since I updated you on the happenings at Hobbs’ Ink.

We continue to expand our business on all fronts – new kinds of work, new staff, new styles.

On the staff front, the head of Design Development, Traci DiGiorgio Kelley, completed her requirements to become a Certified Professional Building Designer and can now seal plans for the City of Austin. This brings the total number of CPBDs in our office to three.

Meanwhile, Alicia Norman who has been with us about eighteen months immediately took on the job of being our office manager but has grown into much more than that. She works on just about every kind of project in the office, but has really excelled at our remodel and additions work.

Cynthia “Jo” Vaughan, CPBD, has shown herself to be our best plan checker and code expert. Along with her duties at the office she volunteers on a national code committee.

And, our most recent addition, Linda Glaze Tsai, AIA, has been working with us since moving back to Austin from San Diego. She is, along with being a registered architect, LEED certified. Currently she is working on a subdivision amenity center for us along with a number of other projects. She is also beginning to get involved in the City building ordinance review process as her contribution to the industry. We’re very excited to have her on board.

I continue to have the happy job of interfacing with and getting to know some of the most interesting and gracious clients in the world and designing for them and/or working with our Design Development team to do the best part of what we do – envisioning homes that will make our clients happy and serve their needs.

Meanwhile on the recognition and promotion front, we have had some good media in “Design Guide Magazine” and “Austin-San Antonio Urban Home Magazine.” We just won two design awards at the HBA of Greater Austin MAX awards ceremony held at the Oasis on Lake Travis this month and hope to garner some awards at two other design competitions we have just entered.

And, last but not least, our foray into Internet plan sales continues to go well and to expand. Our homes are featured prominently on several Internet plan sales websites as well as in a number of print media also managed by Hanley Wood, the leader in that field.  We’ve actually put up a map in the office with flags for all the many states where owners have purchased our home plans.  We even had one order from Australia! 

While we represent only a small portion of the overall economy, we are seeing a definite improvement on all fronts and expect this bodes well for the rest of the country!

To find out how to handle the trees on your Austin lot in conformity with Austin’s tree ordinances see this video:

On March 9th we lost one of Austin’s most talented Structural Engineers. Debbie K. Lance succumbed to cancer that day and we all are poorer for her absence.

She had practiced as a structural engineer here since before I ever thought of starting Hobbs’ Ink. In 1984 after working on such high profile projects as the Hyatt on Town Lake downtown, she started her own business. Even today her field is dominated my men, but at the time she was a very brave young woman to hang out her shingle as a woman engineer.

Her work was always carefully thought out. She read our plans carefully and made sure that her engineering aligned with them and, in fact, she often noticed things about the plans that I had missed myself!

Some felt her engineering was too conservative, but in a world of what I call “disposable housing” I considered that to be a plus.

Possibly her most high profile project, which occupied much of her time the last few years, is one you can see from Loop 360 with cranes hovering over a 5 story tower, man-made streams and moats and grottos, and, incidentally a house and pool, several guest houses, and even a green room (the place actors wait to come on stage) and a Bocci ball field.

Deb was the consummate problem solver. I remember her once saying to me on that project that the architect had given her a wide room with an arched ceiling and exactly 9″ of space to fit the roof supporting structure in. I’m not sure how she did it, but I’m sure she managed. She was extremely creative and really knew her business.

But, what I’ll miss the most is her sense of humor, her bravery, her selflessness and her kindness. Deb never demanded attention or praise. She just quietly did a really fine job, always. Because she was so selfless it was easy to ignore or dismiss her.

There are many of us out here who wish we had spent more time with her. She was a fine person who deserved far better than this world gave her.

A lovely quote from a NY Times art critic named Roberta Smith:
“Art, after all, is one of the places where the pursuit of happiness gains focus and purpose and starts expanding outward, to aid and abet that thing called the greater good. “

Pardon the profanity, but the rapper Ice Cube has done a video that celebrates the work of Charles and Ray Eames the Mid-Century Modern masters. It’s about 2 minutes long, but enjoyable:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRWatw_ZEQI

This was in my inbox this morning and I thought you might want to see some good news.

Texas Job Creation Outpaces Nation

By Bryan Pope, Associate Editor, Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University

Sept. 26, 2011

COLLEGE STATION, Tex. (Real Estate Center) – Texas continues to outperform the United States in job creation, according to the Real Estate Center’s latest Monthly Review of the Texas Economy.

The state gained 271,400 nonfarm jobs from August 2010 to August 2011, an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent compared with 1 percent for the United States. Texas jobs created during that period accounted for 21.1 percent of nonfarm jobs created in the nation.

The state’s private sector grew by 284,200 jobs (3.3 percent) compared with 1.6 percent for the U.S. private sector.

Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 8.5 percent in August 2011 from 8.3 a year earlier. The nation’s rate decreased from 9.5 to 9.1 percent.

All Texas industries except the information industry and the state’s government sector had more jobs in August 2011 than in August 2010. The state’s mining and logging industry ranked first in job creation followed by the construction, professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality industries.

All Texas metro areas except Abilene and Texarkana had more jobs in August 2011 than a year earlier. Victoria ranked first in job creation, followed by Odessa, Lubbock, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission and Midland.

The report was written by Research Economist Dr. Ali Anari and Chief Economist Dr. Mark Dotzour.

If you need to rebuild after the recent fires here in Central Texas you should know that the State of Texas has some pretty specific laws intended to protect you from our era’s version of carpet baggers who might want to take advantage of your misfortune. See the article below. Don’t give contractors money up front. Know before you go.

According to a briefing distributed by the Builders Association of the Highland Lakes:

The Brief

Vol. 1, Number 7 September 12, 2011

SPECIAL NEWS UPDATE

New Disaster Remediation Contracts

On September 1, 2011, a new law became effective that changes the rules on remodel/remediation

contracts after the governor makes a disaster declaration. The highlights are as follows:

• Only applies AFTER a disaster declaration and only in the Texas counties within that declaration.

• Only applies if you are doing business two counties from where your business is located, or an

adjacent county. For example, if your office is in Travis County, this would not affect work you do

in Travis or Williamson County, but would apply if you did work in Bell County. (You must have

maintained a physical business address in your county for one year for this to apply.)

• The new rules affecting the contracts: You may not require full or partial payment BEFORE

beginning work, you may not require any partial payment that exceeds the reasonable amount of

labor and materials provided during that draw period.

• Contract language: If a disaster declaration is made for the county where the work is located AND

you are contracting for remediation work two counties away from your office, your contract MUST

contain the following language: “This contract is subject to Chapter 57, Business and Commerce

Code. A contractor may not require a full or partial payment before the contractor begins

work and may not require partial payments in an amount that exceeds an amount reasonably

proportionate to the work performed, including any materials delivered.” The new TAB contracts

have this exact language and address this new law. Therefore, buy the new contracts and updates

and use for all your remodel/remediation work.

• If this law applies, failure to have this language in your contract is a false, misleading, deceptive

act or practice under Texas law. This could subject you to three times actual damages.

• The law does NOT apply to contracts entered into BEFORE September 1, 2011.

forgot to post that we won awards at 3 other design competitions this spring – MAX awards, Texas Institute of Building Design Design Competition and the American Residential Design Awards. Categories should be posted on our website soon.

LAKEWAY, Texas (May 17, 2011) – This year’s MAX Awards (Marketing and Excellence) ceremony of the Homebuilders Association of Greater Austin was held Saturday evening, May 14th at the Renaissance Hotel of Austin. Lakeway area home designer, Hobbs’ Ink, along with local homebuilder, Triton Custom Homes, and with Austin companies, PPDS and Legacy DCS, won 5 awards at the festivities.

Two of the awards were for 304 Bisset Court, built by Triton Custom Homes for the 2010 Parade of Homes in Rough Hollow at Lakeway. The Neo-Prairie style home, with its clean contemporary lines and bright interiors, the home itself designed by Hobbs’ Ink with Interior Merchandising by PPDS Design + Interiors won Best Custom One-of-a-kind Home as well as Best Interior Merchandising for a Parade or Showcase Home. The C-shaped home nestles a private outdoor living area inside wings created by the guest suite on one end of the home and master suite on the opposite end both of which, along with all the main living areas, open directly to this spacious and welcoming multi-season entertainment area with a pool that echoes an angular design motif from inside the home and incorporates both covered and sunny living areas, a hanging bed and an outdoor kitchen.

We also took home an award for best website for an associate member of the HBA. The website largely represents the hard work of in-house webmaster, Traci DiGiorgio Kelley, who, in addition to being a fine home designer, also designed and maintains the website. www.hobbsink.com

Hobbs’ Ink owner and lead designer, Janet L. Hobbs, AIBD, was called on stage to receive two other design awards. Both of these remodeling projects were built by Legacy DCS, a homegrown Austin construction firm headed by Caswell Brewer, a graduate of Westlake High School.

One was for Best Green Remodel ($75,001 – 100,000) for a home in South Austin that was in such bad shape it had gang tag style spray painting on the inside of the home when Brewer and his partner purchased it. The home was gutted, modernized, a new façade designed, flows improved and appropriate energy efficiency built in for its new owners, a young couple who chose the home not only because of its green features but because of its location which allows them to minimize their own carbon footprint with minimal commutes. Brewer specializes in Central Austin remodels.

The other award shared by Hobbs’ Ink and Legacy DCS was for Best Outdoor Living Remodel (over $100,001). This was for an out door kitchen, pool and pool cabana building in the Hollows on Lake Travis that took a very inaccessible backyard whose main “feature” was a very tall concrete slab and turned it into a very family friendly and beautiful outdoor living area.

I’m happy to report that the awards also honored some of our friends. Hal Jones, the developer of the Reserve at Lake Travis which you may recall hosted Aquapalooza last year won an award for best development for the very beautiful and well conceived and executed property on the Lake. Builder, Wes Wigginton, won not only individual awards, but also the Grand Award for being the Custom Builder with the most cumulative points from the judging. The gentle and talented architect, Charles Travis, won for his thoughtful and luxurious design work. Our long time friend and advocate of the building industry, Mary DeWalt, won for her always magnificent interior merchandising. And, our new friends and table mates at the dinner, of Tofka, Inc., builders of a fine and venerable Central Austin home also received at least two awards. There are many others I’m sure I’m forgetting at this point, but I wanted to get the good news out there without further ado!

Former dancer/builder/entrepreneur/trailblazer, Mary McLeod, retires from Austin Green Building Program.

Mary McLeod has announced her retirement from the Austin Green Building Program. She has been to many of us the face of sustainable and responsible building for many, many years. Austin had the first, and still has the best and most main stream green building program in the country.

Mary had this to say in the announcement she sent out to members of the program this week.

“When I look back, it’s easy to see how much progress we’ve made and how much the quality of homes in the Austin area has improved. We’ve especially made progress in our understanding of building science, which wasn’t even a concept when we started. I remember so many battles we fought—getting flyash into concrete, right-sizing HVAC systems and sealing ductwork, finding low-VOC paints and adhesives, getting low-flow plumbing fixtures redesigned to really work, convincing people that “Xeriscape” doesn’t mean just cactus and rocks, collecting rainwater, mandating performance testing and getting a cadre of people prepared to do it competently—this list could go on and on. It’s been gratifying, too, to see how many new businesses have sprung up over these years to meet green building needs.

“I can only wish that in the ‘70s and ‘80s, when I was a home designer and builder, I had known a fraction of what I have learned over these twenty years since we coined the term “green building” here at the City of Austin.”

Ms. McLeod promises to remain active in the green building community. Look for her on next year’s Cool House Tour!