Briarcliff is a small village on Lake Travis where a modest older lake house can sit two doors down from a brand new custom build. Our interior design studio, River Jane & Co., is in Spicewood about 15 minutes away, so Briarcliff is practically our neighborhood. Every project starts with a free 15 minute call, then a consultation to see what the house needs.
- From our studio
- About 15 minutes, 8 miles
- First step
- A free 15 minute call
- Consultation
- About an hour, in your home or virtual, depending on the project
- Design Strategy
- From $999, plan in 7 to 14 days
- Call or text
- 512-883-3767
Old lake house, second life
A lot of Briarcliff homes started as weekend places. Some were built simply and added onto over the years, so you get a den that's two steps down from the kitchen, a bedroom wing with different ceiling heights and three kinds of flooring in 40 feet. None of that is a reason to tear the house down.
We start by tying the house back together. One floor material through the main rooms, one trim color, one family of light fixtures. Then we open up whatever blocks the lake view, which is often a kitchen wall or a set of small windows that could be bigger. The character stays. The patchwork goes.
- Keep the stone fireplace if it's good. Most are.
- Pull paneling or dark trim lighter before you replace it.
- Put the money into the kitchen and the main bath first.
Porches, screen rooms and the Pace Bend lifestyle
Out here, life happens outside half the year. Pace Bend Park is right down the road, the lake is out back, and the best room in the house might be a screened porch with a ceiling fan. We treat those spaces as real rooms, with outdoor fabric that can take humidity, lighting that works for dinner and a layout that isn't just four chairs pushed against the rail.
The indoor rooms that open to the porch should feel like part of the same house. Flooring that can handle wet feet at the door, a spot for towels, and a kitchen that serves both sides without a traffic jam. Our guide to lake house decor has more on materials that hold up to lake life.
When your neighbor built new
New custom homes keep going up on Briarcliff lots, and they tend to be taller, glassier and more modern than the houses around them. If you're building one, the challenge is warmth. Big windows, white walls and hard floors look sharp in the listing photos and echo like a gym when you're living there.
Wood, texture and soft light fix it. White oak or walnut in the kitchen, a limestone or plaster fireplace wall, linen and wool in the living room, and lamps on dimmers. Our new-build interior design page covers how we plan selections for a custom home. Pricing for a Design Strategy begins at $999 per room.
Close enough to keep it simple
Briarcliff sits right between our studio in Spicewood and Lakeway, off Highway 71. For you that means a short drive for us and no mileage drama. It also means we know the light out here. The lake throws glare back into west and north facing rooms, and the oaks and cedars on the inland streets keep other houses darker than you'd expect.
For the glare, The Shade Haus shades start at $299 a window for cordless Roman or roller styles and $399 a window motorized. For the darker houses, the fix is paint and lighting: warmer whites, lamps in the corners and fixtures that don't all point straight down.
