Learning Curves

When building his own home in Austin, Texas, architect Michael Hsu both honors and riffs off the historic neighborhood vernacular

- ELIZABETH FAZZARE

Clarksville is one of Austin's few truly walkable neighborhoods, with a main commercial street, school, and public park all within a roughly square-mile radius, satisfying the needs of daily life.

It was here that romance blossomed for architect Michael Hsu and his now wife, Sarah, a contemporary art adviser. Soon after the couple met in 2020, she moved into a bungalow just down the street from the plot that he had recently purchased, envisioning settling down in the area. “This was definitely the center of gravity for our relationship,” Michael says, recalling early dates at local haunts.