The Mueller Development at the old Robert Mueller Municipal Airport (aka “Mueller”) is a stunning example of urban fill.

An old, weedy lot (a GIGANTIC one) turned into something an area needs – fantastic housing, compelling amenities, and excellent proximity to the best that Austin has to offer.

This area falls under the category of “New Urbanism”, which is an approach to land planning that reduces traffic and eliminates sprawl – why should thousands of people drive in from far away to work in the heart of Austin when they can live AND work in close proximity?

Mueller Austin Real Estate Market Update: May 2011

In the 12 months leading up to May 14th, 2001:

• A total of 29 homes sold
• The largest home sold was 3,841 square feet, and sold for a whopping $816,146
• The smallest one sold for $272,500
• There are a total of 6 active listings with asking prices as low as $160,990 to as high as $925,000
• The largest home was on the market for 459 days
• The smallest home was on the market for 3 days
• The median days on the market for the entire inventory was 71 days
• The median price was $383,826

A Few Mueller Photos to Whet Your Appetite

[View with PicLens]

Leading Pediatric Medical Providers Relocated to Mueller

Dell Children’s Medical Center, as well a a significant concentration of Central Texas Pediatric Specialists are located at the north western edge of the development, right off of Barbara Jordan Boulevard.

One gorgeous new building houses ‘Specially for Children, which offers services from Pediatric Neurologists, Nephrologists, Immunologists, Rheumatologists, Oncologists, Geneticists, Endocrinologists and Gastroenterologists. The concentration of some of Austin’s best pediatric practitioners means that families with very sick children can find many of the services they need in one location, instead of driving (or riding a bus) all over town.

Photos of the Bigger Buildings – Business and Apartments at Mueller

[View with PicLens]

The Mueller Urban Village

The redevelopment of Mueller into a mixed-use urban village has been spectacular to watch over the last few years.

The 711-acre Mueller site is intended to become home to approximately 10,000 people (in almost 4600 homes including single-family, condos and apartments), 10,000 permanent employees, 10,000 construction jobs, and more than 1,100 homes. The homes were supposed to be “affordable” but that term doesn’t currently apply to the housing available in the area – in December of 2009, the low-end of the Mueller market was around $350,000.

In addition to extensive housing and commercial uses, the redevelopment plan calls for approximately 140 acres of public open space, some of which is in parks with fantastic amenities (a swimming pool, fountains, play scapes) and some of which is in small parks with grassy knolls and freshly-planted trees.

[View with PicLens]

Please note: I do not have any homes listed for sale in this area (which means I am not representing any sellers of Mueller properties, nor any of the developers). The photos you will see are of homes in the area, not necessarily homes for sale in the area. If you want to purchase a home in the Mueller Development area, you may engage me as your Buyers Agent (at no cost to you), to find you a home that is available for re-sale. If you want to talk in more detail about what this means, please call me (Alison) on my cell phone at (512) 585-4758, or send me a note by the form in the sidebar.

My kids were enthralled with the play scapes in one of the parks. I had to beg, whine and cajole them to get back in the car so that we could finish photographing the area. The play scapes were best-of-class, and quite frankly, the best I’ve seen anywhere. I have FIVE kids so I have seen a LOT of play scapes! These were just plain cool – great colors, fun to play in and on, and really hard to leave. We dubbed one little yellow spinning chair the “barfomatic” – small, easy-spinning and compelling until one has spun too much and then it’s sickening, but in a good sort of way. They all wanted a turn, and then quickly, they all wanted OUT! HAH!

[View with PicLens]

As I wandered around taking photos, I noticed how many of the homes reminded me of the Willow Glen area in San Jose, where homeowners have been aggressively renovating smaller cottages into very style-forward new cottages on a larger scale. Others look like rows houses in old urban area across the country and up into Canada. Some of the homes are HUGE, and the architectural styles play off turn-of-the-last-century styles, Mission, and mid-century.

The exterior of these Austin homes range from 4-sided masonry (limestone, brick) to siding and stylings that looks like homes sprinkled across New England. The elevations of the homes are very varied, with lots of details, details details. Even the smaller homes have extensive detailing inside and out, including some with copper siding, metal roofs and a mix of brick, hardie board, metal and stone. Most have porches.

Garages are all at the back, accessed via alleys. All of the homes sit close to the street and to the sidewalks, on small lots, to emphasize the walkability of the area. The colors are glorious – greens, golds, reds, blues. Not a single home is “boring” – all have something compelling about them, whether it is the porch, the heavy front doors, or the intriguing roof lines.

Photos of Smaller Houses In Mueller Austin

Are you ready for more pictures? Let’s start with pictures of the “small” houses, which have a distinctive cottage and old-mission feel to many of them:

[View with PicLens]

Street Photographs

One thing worth mentioning – very few, if any, of these homes are on “interior streets”. The streets are wide, with parking on both sides, and yellow lines down the middle. Most houses had cars parked in front, even with alley access for the homeowners to reach their garages.

[View with PicLens]

Alley Photographs in Mueller in Austin

Those were the “street scenes”, these are the “alley pix”:

[View with PicLens]

Medium Sized Houses

Now that we’ve seen some of the smaller houses, and have a general idea of the size of the lots, and the closeness of the houses to the street, let’s look at some of the mid-size houses.

Before we do that, however, let me say that I am very intrigued by the concept of “small” houses. Once upon a time, Americans raised families in houses of 1500 square feet, or smaller. In 1995 Taunton Press published a book on Small Houses that captivated my attention. I can’t wait for the wave of books and magazines aimed at the “small footprint” crowd!

We have older subdivisions all across the country full of what we now think of as “small” houses. Perhaps these are actually big enough? Do we really need so much stuff? But, I digress . . . let’s look at some of the mid-size houses and see how the interesting elevations, materials and architecture add essential character:

[View with PicLens]

After the “mid-size” houses, we get to indulge in the really big ones.

These are the ones that have an unbelievable amount of “green” material and design built in. “Green” may be a bit of a misnomer here, since building anything bigger than a family really needs could be considered wasteful. We can regard this conflict this way: a family that wants a BIG house is going to buy a big house, one way or the other.

The freedom to do this is the American Way! Buying a green one, albeit a big one, is still less stressing on the environment than a comparably-sized non-green home, both during the original construction, as well as in regards to the on-going impact of energy usage (which is measurably reduced by the additional insulation, higher SEER ratings on the A/C, etc.).

These homes are GORGEOUS! Just GORGEOUS! And for many residents, the shorter commute means more time for family and friends, or for walking around the neighborhood, or on the trails. Which of these big homes is YOUR favorite?

[View with PicLens]

Mueller Townhouses

For those that want something a little bit smaller, and even more energy efficient (due to shared walls, which has an insulating effect), Mueller offers a lot of townhomes:

[View with PicLens]

Even though an extensive amount of housing has already been built, the Mueller Development area has a lot of open, undeveloped space. This space is mostly weedy lots (aka “nature areas” in Texas-speak), between the edges of the new homes and the edges of adjacent areas, some of which is residential and some of which is commercial. It might look barren now, but I know I am intrigued with what may be built in these areas.

[View with PicLens]

Where to Find Mueller in Austin, Texas

The Mueller Development is situated between I-35 on the East, 51st Street on the North, Manor Road on the Southeast and Airport Boulevard on the Southwest.

The official website for the development offers a terrific map of the planned development area which shows the mix of retail, detached housing, town homes, parks and commercial areas.

View Larger Map

Even MORE Mueller Photos!

Yeah I like this area. Here are even more photos, including some of the same houses, taken at a different time of year.

[View with PicLens]

Real Estate Photography in Austin could be a full-time occupation, an obsessive hobby, or something to do for fun just because you CAN!

You may have seen me lurking around your neighborhood, snapping photos, scribbling notes. You may have wondered what the heck that person was doing – the one that doesn’t even seem to notice the hustle and bustle of this vibrant city swirling around her and she steadies the camera to snap a photograph.

Oh, I DO notice the vibrancy of this city, and that is why I’m out there day after day, looking at property for clients, and taking photographs of Austin and the city’s glorious and varied neighborhoods whenever I get a chance. Most real estate web sites show photos of homes for sale. I wanted to show you even more of what you might be getting when you select a neighborhood for your new home, especially if you’ve heard rave reviews about it, but may not have actually hopped into the car and taken a spin through the area.

Sometimes I do just take photos of houses, particularly when I’m in a neighborhood like Travis Heights and can’t peel myself away from the FABULOUS colors and materials in use on homes, new, old and renewed. For those areas, Market reports can come later, after the itch has been scratched for real estate photography, not real estate market blogography (yes, I DID just say that!!).

When you read one of my Market Reports (search for that term in the search bar at the upper right) for an Austin subdivision or real estate market area, you’ll get details about a neighborhood and photos of more than just houses – you’ll get photos of the neighborhood as well, including local businesses, landscaping, and occasionally a fantastic skyline view of downtown Austin.

So, if you see a woman toting her camera, and occasionally a few extra kids, who appears to be mesmerized by her photographic subject, please come over and introduce yourself, and tell me all about YOUR neighborhood and when the pix gets posted, they’ll have even more of that Austin flair that makes this fabulous city our HOME.

If you need a place to start, check out the North Central Austin neighborhood of Crestview.

If you just want to see the photos, you will find them on the pages that follow this one – scroll to the bottom of this post to see the arrows to the following pages which are chock-full of photographs of homes, street scenes and open spaces. Because I care about you, though, I’m throwing in a few teaser pix here.

[View with PicLens]

View Larger Map

Dell Children’s Medical Center, as well a a significant concentration of Central Texas Pediatric Specialists are located at the north western edge of the development, right off of Barbara Jordan Boulevard. One gorgeous new building houses ‘Specially for Children, which offers services from Pediatric Neurologists, Nephrologists, Immunologists, Rheumatologists, Oncologists, Geneticists, Endocrinologists and Gastroenterologists. The concentration of some of Austin’s best pediatric practitioners means that families with very sick children can find many of the services they need in one location, instead of driving (or riding a bus) all over town.

The redevelopment of Mueller into a mixed-use urban village has been spectacular to watch over the last few years. The 711-acre Mueller site is intended to become home to approximately 10,000 people (in almost 4600 homes including single-family, condos and apartments), 10,000 permanent employees, 10,000 construction jobs, and more than 1,100 homes. The homes were supposed to be “affordable” but that term doesn’t currently apply to the housing available in the area – in December of 2009, the low-end of the Mueller market was around $350,000. In addition to extensive housing and commercial uses, the redevelopment plan calls for approximately 140 acres of public open space, some of which is in parks with fantastic amenities (a swimming pool, fountains, playscapes) and some of which is in small parks with grassy knolls and freshly-planted trees.

If you want to read all about the Mueller Redevelopment, please visit the project’s website! If you want to see a bazillion cool photos, keep reading here!

[View with PicLens]

Please note: I do not have any homes listed for sale in this area (which means I am not representing any sellers of Mueller properties, nor any of the developers). The photos you will see are of homes in the area, not necessarily homes for sale in the area. If you want to purchase a home in the Mueller Development area, you may engage me as your Buyer’s Representative (at no cost to you), to find you a home that is available for re-sale. If you want to talk in more detail about what this means, please call me (Alison) on my cell phone at (512) 585-4758, or send me a note via FindRealAustin.com’s on-line contact form.

My kids were enthralled with the playscapes in one of the parks. I had to beg, whine and cajole them to get back in the car so that we could finish photographing the area. The playscapes were best-of-class, and quite frankly, the best I’ve seen anywhere. I have FIVE kids so I have seen a LOT of playscapes! These were just plain cool – great colors, fun to play in and on, and really hard to leave. We dubbed one little yellow spinning chair the “barfomatic” – small, easy-spinning and compelling until one has spun too much and then it’s sickening, but in a good sort of way. They all wanted a turn, and then quickly, they all wanted OUT! HAH!

[View with PicLens]

The exterior of these Austin homes range from 4-sided masonry (limestone, brick) to siding and stylings that looks like homes sprinkled across New England. The elevations of the homes are very varied, with lots of details, details details. Even the smaller homes have extensive detailing inside and out, including some with copper siding, metal roofs and a mix of brick, hardie board, metal and stone. Most have porches. Garages are all at the back, accessed via alleys. All of the homes sit close to the street and to the sidewalks, on small lots, to emphasize the walkability of the area. The colors are glorious – greens, golds, reds, blues. Not a single home is “boring” – all have something compelling about them, whether it is the porch, the heavy front doors, or the intriguing roof lines.

Are you ready for more pictures? Let’s start with pictures of the “small” houses, which have a distinctive cottage and old-mission feel to many of them:

[View with PicLens]

[View with PicLens]

[View with PicLens]

[View with PicLens]

[View with PicLens]

[View with PicLens]

[View with PicLens]