The Bohn House

Built in 1938, the Bohn House is one of Austin’s most distinctive early modern residences, an Art Deco home inspired by the streamlined forms and details of a 1930s ocean liner.

Its original architecture is remarkably expressive: aluminum railings, porthole windows, a curved-glass solarium, and a circular mahogany door designed to raise and lower at the touch of a button. When new owners acquired the house in 2013, they turned to DC+A to adapt it for contemporary life while preserving the character that made it so exceptional.

A new two-story addition nearly doubled the size of the home, requiring a careful balance between old and new. Rather than compete with the original architecture, the expansion draws from its proportions, geometry, and material language, allowing the house to grow while remaining unmistakably itself.

The result preserves an important piece of Austin’s architectural history while giving the Bohn House a new chapter.