If you’re going to build a house, deciding where to put it is usually key. But the location of the house that Nirav V. Patel and Carla Lañas built in Austin, Tex., was ultimately determined by the flip of a coin. The couple had been living in a condominium in the West Campus neighborhood of Austin for years, and wanted to stay put. But “it was this bachelor pad,” with a single lofted bedroom, said Mr. Patel, 46, who works in marketing at Oracle and had bought the apartment in 2005. There were a few problems: The house, which dated to the 1930s, was unremarkable and had been used as student housing.

Source: New York Times March 26, 2019 09:03 UTC