American sculptress Elisabet Ney designed and sited her Austin studio on two acres along Waller Creek in Hyde Park. Ney purchased the lot in 1892 after her arrival in Austin. Her first studio was built to be reminiscent of a Greek temple, similar to her previous studio in Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal. She later added a limestone tower, giving the property a castle like appearance. She named the studio Formosa, meaning “beautiful” in Portuguese, and today it is filled with her works of sculpture and fine art.
As the lead author of the Elisabet Ney Museum Comprehensive Restoration Master Plan for the City of Austin in 2007, Tere laid the groundwork for meticulous restoration practices that continue to influence projects today. Currently, O’Connell Architecture is collaborating with Heimsath Architects to make significant improvements to this historic property. Our primary focus is on the careful evaluation and restoration of the museum’s historic windows and doors, ensuring that the restoration scope is both understandable and implementable.