Architect-designed homes
The considered sale of considered homes
Some houses have an author. We represent those.
Meridian Prime is a boutique Austin brokerage for architect-designed homes — sold on light, siting, and provenance, to buyers who understand what they're standing in.
Representation
How we work with you
Four ways in — each led by a broker, agreed in writing, and built around the house itself.
Selling your home
Preparation, not promotion: we edit, stage, and photograph the house at its best hour, write the provenance file, and price from evidence. Most Meridian listings go under agreement inside two weeks.
Finding one
Buy-side representation for patient people. We track the city's architect-designed stock — who built what, who is aging out of it, what is quietly for sale — and we will tell you when a house is wrong for you.
Off-market search
Roughly a third of our sales never see a listing. For specific briefs — a Stenger to restore, a courtyard plan, west light — we approach owners directly, discreetly, and only with your mandate.
Advisory
Counsel before the sign goes up: renovation triage that returns its cost, architect and craftsman referrals, and honest answers about what the market will and won't reward.
Provenance
Recently represented
Who we are
The brokerage
Meridian Prime was founded in 2011 on an observation: Austin was filling with serious architecture, and it was being sold like tract housing — wide-angle photos, price per square foot, open Sunday two to four. We built the alternative. Two brokers, a researcher, and a standing bench of photographers who shoot each house at the hour it was designed for.
We carry eight to twelve listings at a time, never more. Each one gets a provenance file — architect, year, materials, renovations, publication history — because the buyer of a considered house wants its story, and the seller deserves a broker who can tell it.
From recent sales
“Three brokers told us to paint the redwood and 'brighten it up'. Meridian photographed the house at seven in the evening, wrote four hundred words about the architect, and sold it in nine days — to people who had been looking for it for years.”
“We gave them an impossible brief — courtyard, west light, walkable, no HOA — and eleven months later they called about a house that had never been listed. It is exactly the one.”
“Their advisory work paid for itself before we listed: two focused renovations, one very good photographer, and a price we never had to apologize for. Under agreement in six days.”
FAQ
Fair questions
Do you only represent architect-designed homes?
Mostly, though the test is design intent rather than a famous name. A rigorous builder home with real siting and light belongs with us; a large plain one is better served — and honestly, better priced — by a volume brokerage.
What does an off-market search involve?
A written brief, a signed buy-side agreement, and patience. We approach owners of qualifying houses directly and discreetly; about a third of our transactions happen this way. Searches typically run three to twelve months.
How do you price a house with no comparables?
From evidence: land and siting value, replacement cost of the architecture, restoration quality, and what documented design-literate buyers have recently paid. We put the workings in writing, so you see how we reached the number.
What do you charge?
Standard market commission on the sale side, with photography, film, and provenance research carried by us rather than billed back. Buy-side and advisory terms are agreed in writing before we begin.
Will you tell us if our house isn't right for your list?
Yes — kindly and quickly, with a referral to the brokerage we would use in your position. Taking every listing is how a boutique stops being one.
Private listings
List quietly. Sell completely.
A private valuation, an honest read on timing, and a plan for the house — whether we list it this spring or simply tell you what to do first.
Enquiries