Epiphyte Scrim by Jessica Braun. Photo: Sev Coursen

More photos over on flickr.. 

We had a great time last night at our latest Verde Camp Arty Party. Every so often we ask an artist to present their work at Verde Camp, and we wrap a little party around it just for fun! Of course we invite our private list of folks from all over the world. We got several comments from folks that said that they really appreciated us supporting art and artists, and was one of the things that makes being in Austin awesome!

This time around, we worked with Jessica Braun who did an amazing site specific outdoor installation. The piece is called Epiphyte Scrim, is truly something to be experienced. Last night, we cast lights on it and watched it breathe and sway as a cool front swept over Austin. Thanks to a bunch of neighbors, kids, dogs, and other folks friendly with Verde Camp, the reception was a complete success.

The piece will be around through October of 2012, so come visit us and check it out. I have to admit, it looks pretty good at night, too. Check out the photos and learn more about Jessica Braun on the Arty Party invitation page.

Thanks to Domy Books for helping get the word out about the event.

We’ve got an amazing groups of folks so far … we’re almost bursting at the seams. We’ve got a few dates left for both interactive and music, but not much. Check out our living/updated SXSW page to the latest info.

Also.. keep your eyes open for Hot Rod Weekend, ACL, UT Graduation, and other pages as well .. so you can be sure and get your house secured.

Peace ..

We’re committed giving our guests as many accommodations as possible, while maintaining our happy community vibe that we’ve built up over the years.

On the heals of our Bicycles announcement, we’re proud to announce that Verde Camp now offer the convenience of coin-operated washer and dryer at our South Congress guest houses. This will be particularly helpful to our medium and long-term guests and people with children.

Prices are two dollars a load for washing and the same for drying. The machines, which take quarters, are located in the utility pavillion in the back right corner of the property near the Bicycles and Ignacio, our 8 foot robot rooster.

A few weeks ago, we received our first shipment of bicycles from Public Bikes out in San Francisco. As you know, Verde Camp is an eco-friendly endeavor, so anytime we can make moves to encourage a better environment, we do.

One of the best parts about Verde Camp (in Travis Heights as well as Clarksville) is it’s access to great coffee shops, restaurants, bars, shops, and downtown.. and what better way to explore the area than on an awesome Public Bike! Learn more about Public Bikes and the folks that assembled them for us here in Austin, Lance Armstrong’s own Mellow Johnny’s.

If you’re interested in using one of our bikes while you’re staying with us, it’s as easy as filling out the form which can be done at any time. We’ll be arranging a tour around S. Congress soon.. if you’re interested, let us know and we’ll keep you in the loop.

… and while we’re on the subject, the Austin American Statesman did a very nice piece on Carrie and I, featuring Verde Camp back in February. It happened really quickly… one of the fun parts was getting to meet one of their staff photographers, Alberto Martinez, and getting to know Lori Hawkins who’ve both been doing good work for the statesman for a lonnnnnng time.

We were pleased with how the article turned out, and it highlighted some of the best parts of Verde Camp, namely that we’re a great alternative to a normal hotel and that we draw in diverse and interesting folks looking for a more ‘Austin’ experience. We’re definitely happy about the local coverage… about a third of our business comes from Austinites and their families, so it’s good tell folks our story.

More coming soon!

Summer has finally peaked, temperature-wise and is on the slow descent down to the cool breezes of fall. Every year about this time, many Texans start looking ahead to cooler weather, football season, and ACL, but we’re not there yet.. it’s still nice and Toasty.

Verde Camp is featured in this month’s Hotlist (get it!?) in Austin Monthly Magazine. We’re in with some other heavy hitters like Tyson Cole’s Uchiko (aka Uchi 2) and Willie Nelson, so we know we’re doing something right. Check out page 32 of the August Issue.

Big stuff’s coming down the pipe for Verde Camp, but I wanted to start off with this mid-winter update. And here we go….

We had a great holiday season here at Verde Camp, thanks to everyone that has come out and stayed with us so far. The winter and specifically January is traditionally a slow month, but we’ve had a slew (a slew!) of Traveling Dignitaries™ from some wayward northerners that filled in the gaps. Did I mention that we love Canadians!? We love Canadians! I’ve yet to meet one that I don’t like! What’s up Winnipeggahs!! Canadians are seriously the nicest people in N. America.

Here’s a fact based on emperical data that I’ve collected over the course of a year: Canadians know more about live music in Austin than 98% of most Austinites. FACT.

Speaking of cold weather .. predictably, our Texas weather can’t decide what to do. Today, we’ve got highs in the 50′s and 60′s which means bust out the flip flops and barbecues…  while a few days ago it was in the 20′s. We officially had a pipe bust in the Bomber due to ice, which was a little bit of a wakeup call… It’s all fixed now, of course… and we’re wiser for it.

Did someone say chili? We finally got a chance to redeem the Verde Camp team’s ‘no show’ from last year’s Jo’s Coffee Chili Cookoff. This year in 2010, we came out and showed ‘em how it was done! Our chili (a recipe born on the Guadalupe River 20 years ago.) focuses on the chili itself, not a whole lot of fixins like some of the other contestants. (We did enjoy the La Condesa hot chocolate however.. or was it Mulberry? thx guys!) We did not come in first place (24 Diner), and we did not win the showmanship award which DESERVEDLY went to the Hyde Park Bar & Grill‘s Chili con Carnies, but neither did all the other contestants like former SF alum Batter Blaster and hometown fav Solar Powered Chili Team, so I’m still feeling good. Team Verde Camp was stoked nonetheless. Plus I got to meet Liz Lambert‘s assistant and a friend of Verde favorite Hugh McCloud‘s. (Stay tuned for more on Hugh and SXSW)

That’s all for now.. I’ve got more news, but I figured I’d wait a couple more months to tell you about it. (kidding!)

You may not know this, but at one point in our lives, Carrie and I owned and operated a fine art gallery in San Francisco called BASE Gallery. It was a thrilling 6 year experience and we had many intriguing shows, some amazing artists, and (if I do say so myself) some AWESOME opening parties.

Well, guess what? We’re at it again. Except this time around we’re in Austin and we’re going use our houses at Verde Camp to highlight some rising talent. We’re calling the shows Arty Parties, and you can find out more information by going to the Arty Party section of the site. The long and short of it, though, is that we’ll be bringing in artists, having them stay with us, hanging a show in their house, and then throwing a party around them!

Our first show is on September 19th, from 7-9pm with artist Pat Phipps. It’s going to be fun so mark your calendar. We’ve got some local businesses to pitch in, so it should be some fun!

Now you know. Don’t be square.

My head is buzzing .. ACL Fest is coming and we’ve been booked up for months. With this lineup, though, you can see why. I’ve got the Hotel St. Cecilia, Hotel San Jose (hey guys!) and some other local guest houses calling to see if we have space available. This tells me that not only is Verde Camp starting to be out in the community consciousness, but that we’re starting to have some local public trust. Which is just .. well it’s awesome.

And then yesterday, we got some great news that the legendary Apartment Therapy site gave us a fancy writeup on their interior design oriented site.  I’m just looking again on the site and it looks like we’re in the Top Post area. Not sure what that is, but Carrie and I couldn’t be more proud …. Thanks to Adrienne Breaux for da kine words.

All this, plus what’s coming up! We’ve hooked up in a nasty (filthy! dirty!) relationship with Domy Bookstore / Austin and bringing you a very special fine art showing of artist Pat Phipps‘ new work. We’re bringing it all together in a show we’re calling the Verde Camp Arty Party on September 19th here at Verde Camp. We’re putting Pat and his family up in a house and throwing a party at him! Come to the opening and bring a friend.. With any luck this will be an ongoing event.

… just feeling the love is all. Thanks to our lovely guests who continue to prove that Verde Camp is a good idea.

Billy Gambill and Brian Cross are the guys doing the heavy lifting (and heavy breathing) on painting the trailer today here at Verde Camp. These guys are making it happen on our new addition to the Cloud House, and they definitely know what they’re doing. They’re both part of the Austin Filmerati, working on big and small budget films shot here and around Austin. It’s awesome being around these guys.. great stories about the different film sets they’ve worked on.

What are they painting? a 1949 ‘Spartan Mansion’ trailer, also known as ‘the mansion,’ ‘the green muse,’ ‘big green,’ ‘Hulk,’ ‘Shangri-La,’ or ‘the dog house’ depending on who you ask. We’re pushing a 100 degrees today, so this job is no joke. We’re going with a mix of Camo Green and Khaki automotive paint… and the color is turning out great!

We’re going for a WWII era feel, complete with Nose Art and a Pinup Girl of some sort… we need a good name to put on the side though.  “The Green Muse” and “The Verde Vixen” are all we’ve come up with so far.. If you have any ideas let us know!

Just wanted to give a big huge congrats to Marla Akin at the Michener Center for Writers. Marla was recently mentioned in the Austin American Statesman as having organized a perfect week for visiting writer and guest lecturer Ian McEwan, who made Verde Camp his “second home.” We couldn’t be happier about this.

The McEwans came on a recommendation shortly after their friend and Booker prize winning novelist, Peter Carey and his wife stayed with us for a couple of weeks (also visiting Marla and the Michener School). Peter was a delight to have around, and I really think they got into being Austinites!

More recently, Mrs. Akin brought Pulitzer prize-winning poet W.S. Merwin and his wife Paula to Austin. Apparently the poetry reading he gave brought the house down, and the discussion afterwards has inspired another generation of artists.

Marla, we thought you and the Michener Center deserved a Blue Ribbon prize for not only keeping Austin on the national map, but making sure that your visiting writers have a better more true Austin experience. Thank you and congrats!

Michener Center for Writers – Statesman article about Ian McEwan’s visit.

While it’s highly irregular, Verde Camp did manage to have at least one wayward Austinite who was interested in actually camping during SXSW. . Fun times!

Yeehaw! (image by j chapman)

We’re finished with the house remodels! We did it! My great grandpa used to tell me that when it feels right, sometimes you gotta just let people know! Check out some photos of the newest addition.

The Journey. So far, it has been an amazing and epic road we’ve travelled. Like most projects of this sort, the journey has been hilarious, scary, ridiculous, treacherous, and fraught with complications. And yes, completely rewarding. I know more about residential housing permits, how to seal a bathroom basin, the difference between a ditch digger and a licensed contractor, and what it really means when they say ‘the shit rolls downhill’ (don’t ask). I used muscles I haven’t used in years, and sweated like a man in August, and you know what? It was GREAT. I’m thinking about leaving the UI world behind all-together!

The People. We have encountered an amazing variety of characters not unlike the ones in the Mos Eisley: from villainous, treacherous, acid-spitting, greedy bastards to the kindest most talented and skilled Wookie-humans. Did I let bastards get me down? … sometimes. But when the going got tough I was thankful for our friends, our family, and our understanding neighbors who (mostly) had our backs.

The Houses. The best part, of course, was the resurrection of these amazing 1930′s ‘tiny texas houses’ which were surely doomed. We’re very proud of the results and I sincerely hope you’ll come check out our hard work.

Next up: Landscaping (oy!)

The Postcard

Just a little update on happenings here at Verde Camp.

Super excited to have SXSW interactive folks flowing into town. People from all over the world show up and everyone’s in a great mood, happy to share information, etc. It’s a great time to see old friends and make new ones.

Being in the tech industry myself (inventor and co-founder of Dipity.com, and my design & UI/UE consulting business Built By Robots) the interactive side of things is particularly fun for me. Fellow geeks, and Burning Man brethren Beau Smith (@Beausmith) and Robin Anderson (@tecgirl) will be staying with us. Stoked to catch up with them. Also want to mention Jason and his crew from Zinc Roe who have an addtictive Penguin Shuffleboard game out on the iphone. Nice work guys.

I’m looking forward to hearing Hugh McCloud (@gapingvoid) of Gaping Void speak at the conference, if I can sneak in. I wonder if any Crazy Deranged Fools will be there? We were lucky enough to have Hugh stay with us a couple of weeks ago. Great conversationalist who appreciates a good margarita (as do I). He even gave us a mention in his CDF list and subsequently on his blog. Thanks to Josh Dilworth (@joshdilworth) for introducing us.

We’re 99% finished with our last remodeled house here at Verde Camp.. so I’ll be posting pictures very soon. I’m very happy with the way it turned out. If any Austinites need remodelling references. I’ll be happy to steer you to the right folks (and away from some wrong ones. snap!)

OK. My blood sugar is low now.. gotta get a taco  -BJ (@bjheinley)

We have a few houses still open for SXSW Music festival. Call/email for pricing.. but here’s the general breakdown.

We’re 5/6th’s full for SXSW Interactive (remodel on final house is being completed. When it’s done.. we’ll post it for you to see)

1 Bedroom House = $300 / night

2 Bedroom House = $350 / night

Note: Cash is king.. if you’re paying with cash .. that means you’re adding to our margarita fund, which means we’ll probably give you a better deal in the end. Think about it.

The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of sleeper/sofas.

The BluDot sofas were not cheap, but we feel the extra expense is worth it when you get the most comfortable queen-sized sofa/bed on the market. It might be a little strange to post about a sleeper/sofa, but I’m really excited about them and I want to share some of the better qualities.

Great Looks. When in sofa-mode, the piece is stylish and comfortable pulling from the best of the mid-century modern designers. BluDot, the maker of the sofa, is an American company that “gets it.” They choose great materials and have good craftmanship. The felt material they’ve chosen is good-looking and of high quality (and I hope long-lasting durability).

Comfort. It’s been my experience that a sofa with a great mid-century modern look might not translate to being comfortable to sit on. I’ve slept on so many uncomfortable sofa/beds while traveling that I had completely banned them from being at Verde Camp. Of course, all that changed. How could BluDot have known that the size and height of their creation would fit so well in our houses? All that and bag of chips.

Queen-sized Bed. When it flips over to become a queen sized bed, you realize that the mattress material is super-comfortable soft-foam (but not too soft), very similar to the mattresses we use on our beds. This not like sleeping on a cot, or even like a futon; This is so much better.

Anyhow.. beyond this, I can’t really talk too much about the ‘One night stand’ (as it’s called), you’ll just need to experience it.

Last Year's Cookoff.

BJ Heinley will be leading Team Verde Camp to victory (hopefully) at the Third Annual Jo’s Chili Cookoff on S. Congress this weekend.

Come out and taste the chili, drink a beer, and support Verde Camp in our quest to take over the minds, hearts, and intestinal systems of brave Austinites everywhere.

UPDATE: Due to unforseen circumstances. Team Verde Camp will not be attending the chili cookoff. We do, however, tend to be there next year en force, however. Thanks to Chuck, Tina, Johannes, and the rest of the Jo’s crew.

Inspiration from the driveway at Big Red Sun. I dig their white gravel and general vibe.

The drywall is up and awaiting inspection in the back/left house. Hopefully that will come through tomorrow.

Carrie and I walked around today for about an hour and decided to move forward on building a couple of sight barriers around on the right side houses, and a pergola in the middle/back house. Super excited about those…. they’ll have a simple design that is echoing some of the decisions we made on the wood decks, and will be echo’d again on the fence along the front.

We also talked about plantings. We’re drawing out what we talked about now, and Carrie’s getting an awesome list together, complimenting stuff that was put in before by Crazy Aaron, yet moving forward on some more ideas we have. Fun!

A Texas "Live Oak" leaf

I got a business card from an arborist down at the city today who wanted to talk about Oak Wilt in the neighborhood. More specifically, he wanted to talk about a 5 foot deep trench he wants to dig end-to-end through the middle of Verde Camp that’s going to cost in total (including trenches through neighbors yards) somewhere in the neighborhood of $25,000 USD.

Texas live oaks in the neighborhood are particularly susceptible to oak wilt, which can be caused by a fungus that attacks the roots of the trees. We have two of these amazing 200 year-old trees at Verde that provide a beautiful canopy over the right side of Verde Camp. Losing them to oak wilt would be really, really suck.

I hung up the phone with more questions than answers, however. I guess I’m to understand this drama will unfold over the next few months. We’re going to learn more and do what we can, but I don’t know what we’ll do if they ask us to pay for the trench. Ouch. I’m crossing my fingers.