As Lake Travis continues to grow, so do the many shopping options in the area. Residents can choose to shop from the local boutiques throughout Lakeway to the Hill Country Galleria Mall in Bee Caves, offering 500,000 square feet of retail stores and boutiques. Barton Creek Square Mall, home to major department stores and specialty retailers, is also only a short drive away form Lake Travis homes!

Hill Country Galleria
The Hill Country Galleria has everything from retail shops to residential apartments to office space. This lifestyle center will keep you entertained for hours with its wide variety of shopping, dining and various events throughout the year.

Shops at The Galleria
The Shops at The Galleria has more to offer than its breath taking views, open courtyards and fountain ponds. This premier shopping destination has national, regional and local tenants available to its visitors. Some of the featured shops include Lowe’s, Newflower Market, Petsmart, Bestbuy, Maudie’s, Waterloo, Mandola’s and Spec’s.

Texas Treasures
Texas Treasures features local artists who produce original paintings, designed furnishings and decorative items perfect for furnishing your Lake Travis home. With over 3,000 square feet of shopping, visitors will undoubtedly find that special something they are looking for.

Lakeway Commons
Lakeway Commons is the perfect Hill Country setting for visitors to enjoy shopping and dining. With delicious restaurants and boutique shopping, Lakeway Commons has something for everyone to enjoy. Featured stores and restaurants include John Ryan’s Clothing, Mad About Shoes, Mulligan’s Sports Grill, Vino 100 and much more! All of this shopping is just minutes from great Lake Travis homes!

This guest post was provided by Lake Travis Homes expert, Charla Housson, Realtor.

Whether you’re a growing family or a single professional, the Lake Travis community is an ideal place to live, work, and play. If you’ve been considering moving there or purchasing a Lake Austin homes, read on for the top 5 reasons to live in Lake Travis.

Beautiful Scenery
The Lake Travis area is Hill Country living at its best. From the beautiful lake to the rolling hills to the majestic trees, Lake Travis has it all! Residents here have access to great places to enjoy the natural beauty including Silver’s Trails, Reimer Ranch, Krause Springs, and Horseshoe Bend.

Quality Schools
Lake Travis ISD Schools are among the best in Travis County. The area is served by 5 excellent elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 1 high school. Lake Travis ISD will soon be a 5A school district offering superb academic and athletic programs. It was recently ranked “Exemplary” by the TEA and named one of America’s Best High Schools” by Newsweek.

Golfer’s Paradise
Golfers rejoice! Lake Travis homes and neighborhoods are within minutes of 4 unique golf courses: Lakecliff, Falconhead, and Horseshoe Bay, and Texas music legend Willie Nelson’s, Pedernales Golf Club.

Exciting shopping
If you enjoy shopping, you will love living in the Lake Travis area! Residents enjoy excellent places to shop from the local boutiques throughout Lakeway to the The Hill Country Galleria in Bee Caves, offering 500,000 square feet of retail stores and boutiques! Barton Creek Square Mall, home to major department stores and specialty retailers, is also nearby.

City Convenience
Though Lake Travis residents have everything they need within minutes from home, they also love being close to great Austin employers, entertainment, and places to dine. Downtown is also only a short 25 minute drive from Lake Travis homes.

Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge, also called “Congress Bridge” is a very popular South Austin attraction for visitors as well as locals. The Congress Bridge was named in honor of late Texas Governor Ann W. Richards in 2006. Prior to that, the bridge was known as Congress Bridge.

The Congress Bridge sits on the southern end of downtown Austin and spans Lady Bird Lake, connecting South Congress Avenue and downtown Austin. Made of concrete, the sturdy structure serves both as a route for vehicles and scenic walkway for pedestrians and cyclists. From the top of the bridge, visitors experience gorgeous views of the downtown skyline reflecting on the peaceful lake. By day, the waters below the bridge are filled with kayaks, paddleboards and tour boats.

Though beautiful on its own, the bridge actually attracts thousands of tourists per year because of what lies underneath the bridge between its concrete beams. During the warm months, the Congress Bridge is home to the world’s largest urban bat colony – 1.5 million of them! In early fall, the bats migrate to Mexico where remain for up to 6 months before returning to Austin in the spring.

People gather every evening from May-September to view the Congress Bridge bats in flight. Each night at dusk, the bats emerge from underneath the bridge to feed. It is quite a sight! Individual bats emerge cautiously and within minutes this builds up into a steady stream of bats that look similar to a quickly moving dark cloud. The colony flies over the lake waters and wind along the river’s path until they are out of sight. Seeing the Congress Bridge bats is a must-do for any Austinite!

This post was provided by Realtor Marc Warshawsky. To learn more about the Congress Bridge andSouth Austin homes homes near this classic Austin attraction, visit SouthAustinHomesOnline.com today!

This post was provided by Scott Felder Homes, central Texas home builders and design firm.

Central Texas is one of the most thriving places in the United States today — not only is the economy strong, but powerful community ties to sports, cities, and the Lone Star State itself bring the people together in ways that people who have never been to Austin or San Antonio just can’t really get. One of the things that brings the people together is a respect for powerful visuals — just look around Texas A&M or at the H.W. Bush Presidential Library and you’ll see what we mean.

That uniquely Texan aesthetic has really shined over the last couple of years of architecture around the Central Texas region. New homes have taken big advantage of the natural beauty of stone and barely-varnished rough-cut lumber to create an impressive visage that bespeaks power and luxury from the curb — and doesn’t take a single step back once you get inside, either.

Texas Country French

A unique blend of Continental gables and stonework with Texan sprawl and informality, the Texas Country French style is getting more popular with every passing season. Noted in particular for its ‘broken arch’ style of stonework, Texas Country French style homes create a sense of history and power even in a brand-new construction.

Texas Mission Style

For those of you who fell in love with the grace of the Spanish Mission style but need a little more ‘ranch’ in your mission, the Texas Mission Style is for you. Generally a fairly wide, nearly-rambling building surrounding a central enclosed courtyard, the Texas Mission home feels rustic, expansive, and natural.

Texas Traditional

If you’ve ever driven through Central Texas and seen a steep-roofed home with a broad, covered front porch that seemed to say “come knock, we’ve got lemonade”, you’ve seen Texas Traditional in action. These homes use those steep roofs to sneak in second-story (or third-story) rooms with dormer windows without giving the appearance of being overtly large.

There are dozens of other beautiful styles around the region of course, but these are the core of the Central Texas modern home architecture — ask your builder to show you some designs!

home buidlers, home designs, central texas homes

This post was provided by Rapid Recovery Service, Inc., experts in fire, water, storm and mold damage restoration.

Soda Blasting is a widely recognized technique by the insurance restoration industry to eliminate lingering odors of fire and water damage. Compared to other alternative methods such as sand blasting, which is more abrasive, and dry ice blasting, which raises safety concerns due to the high levels of carbon dioxide, soda blasting is a faster, safer and cleaner solution.

Soda blasting applies baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) against a surface using compressed air. This method is chemical-free and nontoxic and is successful at eliminating most contaminants from a variety of surfaces from wood, brick and metals.

The use of soda blasting in fire damage restoration is successful at removing soot, char and smoke odors. In regards to mold damage, the process eliminates mold growth and spores with minimum impact on the surface. It also speeds up the restoration process by eliminating the need to remove and replace materials and is even safe to use around window frames and door-walls without damaging glass panes. The benefits of soda blasting greatly reduce the time of the restoration process and are a proven cost savings technique to owners. Visit our website to learn more about soda blasting and our services for fire and mold damage restoration.