Zilker

zilker neighborhood - photo by Matt Rutledge

The Zilker Neighborhood is bounded by Zilker Park, Robert E Lee Drive and Barton Skyway to the west and Lamar to the east. The northern boundary is Barton Springs Drive and the southern boundary is roughly La Casa street. The Zilker neighborhood is truly a microcosm of Austin history and culture. This neighborhood has, in its time, been home to Tonkawa and Lipan Apache Indians, descendants of slaves, farmers, artists, politicians and musicians. The Zilker neighborhood combines people of all ages, races and classes. There you can find the blue-ribbon Zilker elementary school and the Barton Hills Assisted Living facility. While Zilker has its contingent of young families and older residents, its primary population is probably best described as affluent bohemians. The Zilker neighborhood’s proximity to coffee houses, bars and local eateries on Barton Springs and Lamar, ACL and music events in Zilker Park and Lady Bird Lake hike and bike trail has made the neighborhood especially attractive to 30 and 40-somethings. Lamar Plaza to the east is a shopping area as “assorted” as the neighborhood including a new-age bookstore, an old-school beauty salon, a fabric store, movie house, bowling alley and cocktail bar. Area school children attend the exemplary Zilker Elementary on Bluebonnet Lane; junior high follows at academically “acceptable” O. Henry Middle School and “recognized” Austin High School , located across the Lady Bird Lake. There is an active Neighborhood Association, an annual 4th of July Parade and a small dogs-off-leash park located at Little Zilker Park on Bluebonnet lane. This year will see the 10th annual Zilker Backyard Concert , a fundraiser for Zilker elementary which has featured local residents such as Alejandro Escovedo, Marsha Ball and Jimmy La Fave.

photo by tetradtx

Zilker Park and Barton Springs define the laid-back mood of the neighborhood. In the 1830’s “Uncle Billy” Barton built a cabin at Spring Creek as it was called . Over time, and after a few scalpings by the displaced Native American residents, Barton Springs became the beloved public swimming and recreation site that it is today. In the mid- 1800’s, The Rabb family bought much of the land around the springs which hosted flour and saw mills, a quarry and a confederate soldier encampment during the civil war. The Rabb family sold some of the land to Andrew Jackson Zilker who continued to improve the area, adding an ice house, bath house and pastures for his horses. In 1918 Zilker deeded the springs and surrounding thirty-five acres to the city. Zilker neighborhood architecture is reflective of this eclectic mix of by-gone days. Depression era homes from the 1930’s stand next to three-story, city houses designed by green, Austin builders . The grandest Zilker home , at 1610 Virginia Avenue, is the “Old Kinney farm home” built in 1875. Cater Joseph, purchased the house from Gerard Kinney 50 years ago. Mid-century modern homes, by local, renegade builder A.D. Stenger, dot the western side of the neighborhood with his distinctive, rock and glass, angular dwellings. Streets in the neighborhood reflect the families that once lived there. Rabb road ran through the large Rabb Ranch. Goodrich and Wright streets are both named for original homesteaders. Arthur lane, on the bluff to the west of the neighborhood, is named after A.D. Stenger’s son. Well known artists Charles and Ageline Umlauf bought and remodeled their Zilker home in 1941. In 1985, the Umlaufs donated their home, studio, and 168 Umlauf sculptures to the City of Austin. This 2.5 acre area is now known as the Umlauff Sculpture Garden and is located in the northwest corner of the neighborhood. Much of the southwestern side of the Zilker neighborhood (Barton heights) was an early African-American settlement. The Barton Springs Baptist Church Cemetery is one of the first African-American cemeteries in Central Texas. It began in 1866 and some of the people buried there were born before 1840. In the 1940s, the original wooden building burned and was replaced by the cinder block one that stands today. The site was zoned historic by the City of Austin in 1993 (text from the historic marker). Lost Canyon is just east of Kinney Avenue. The canyon adds to the rural, peaceful , feeling of the neighborhood, although vagrants sometimes wander the canyon as do other wild creatures such as racoon, deer and possum. Some homes have downtown or park views. Note: the elementary school is in danger of being relocated due to redistricting by AISD. A flood in 1935 left four inches of mud in the Barton Springs bathhouse and washed away the Lake Austin Dam. Zilker Park was under water for days. An older resident reported that after the flood in ’35, his father hitched up his horses and dragged an abandoned house out of the floodwaters at the foot of Kinney Avenue and deposited it on the lot next to him near the intersection of Kinney and Hether.

Showing properties 1 - 29 of 29. See more homes near Zilker Park.
(all data current as of 6/19/2013)

$392,500 : 2004 Rundell PL, Austin

3 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 1,340 sq ft

Lot size: 7,100 sqft

Year built: 1951
$349,900 : 1135 Barton Hills DR, 125, Austin

2 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,204 sq ft

Lot size: 2,962 sqft

Year built: 1981
$850,000 : 1806 Anita DR, Austin

2 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 1,996 sq ft

Lot size: 7,405 sqft

Year built: 2005
$450,000 : 1115 Kinney, 42, Austin

3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 1,821 sq ft

Lot size: 435 sqft

Year built: 2005

Parking spots: 2
$288,000 : 1600 Barton Springs RD, 2602, Austin

1 bed, 1 full bath

Home size: 683 sq ft

Lot size: 435 sqft

Year built: 2010

Parking spots: 1
$172,000 : 2021 Bluebonnet, 205, Austin

2 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 672 sq ft

Lot size: 1,437 sqft

Year built: 1968
$725,000 : 1309 Bluff ST, Austin

3 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,821 sq ft

Lot size: 10,236 sqft

Year built: 1955
$375,000 : 1702 S Lamar BLVD, 28, Austin

2 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 1,264 sq ft

Lot size: 1,306 sqft

Year built: 2008

Parking spots: 2
$299,000 : 1600 Barton Springs RD, 1108, Austin

1 bed, 1 full bath

Home size: 743 sq ft

Lot size: 479 sqft

Year built: 2010

Parking spots: 1
$395,000 : 1600 Barton Springs RD, 5502, Austin

2 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 937 sq ft

Lot size: 609 sqft

Year built: 2010

Parking spots: 2
$499,995 : 1209 Kinney AVE, 6B, Austin

3 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 2,244 sq ft

Lot size: 3,223 sqft

Year built: 2006

Parking spots: 2
$785,000 : 1605 Linscomb AVE, Austin

4 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 2,012 sq ft

Lot size: 13,111 sqft

Year built: 1940
$462,500 : 1600 Barton Springs RD, 3205, Austin

2 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,117 sq ft

Lot size: 740 sqft

Year built: 2010

Parking spots: 2
$1,200,000 : 1529 Barton Springs RD, 22, Austin

3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 2,695 sq ft

Lot size: 4,835 sqft

Year built: 2012

Parking spots: 2
$1,500,000 : 1529 Barton Springs RD, 21, Austin

3 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 3,242 sq ft

Lot size: 4,835 sqft

Year built: 2012

Parking spots: 2
$599,000 : 1706 Norris DR, Austin

4 beds, 3 full baths

Home size: 3,370 sq ft

Lot size: 9,234 sqft

Year built: 1955
$625,000 : 1600 Barton Springs RD, 4304, Austin

3 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,520 sq ft

Lot size: 958 sqft

Year built: 2010

Parking spots: 2
$989,900 : 1209 Garner AVE, Austin

3 beds, 3 full, 2 part baths

Home size: 3,367 sq ft

Lot size: 6,403 sqft

Year built: 2008

Parking spots: 2
$279,900 : 1808 Blue Crest DR, A, Austin

2 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 804 sq ft

Lot size: 1.61 ac

Year built: 1965

Parking spots: 1
$459,985 : 1600 Barton Springs RD, 6105, Austin

2 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,117 sq ft

Lot size: 740 sqft

Year built: 2008

Parking spots: 2
$466,500 : 1600 Barton Springs RD, 1105, Austin

2 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,133 sq ft

Lot size: 740 sqft

Year built: 2010

Parking spots: 2
$570,000 : 1809 Ford ST, Austin

6 beds, 4 full baths

Home size: 2,338 sq ft

Lot size: 14,984 sqft

Year built: 1984
$799,000 : 1600 Barton Springs RD, 1401, Austin

3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 1,706 sq ft

Lot size: 1,089 sqft

Year built: 2009

Parking spots: 2
$321,000 : 1600 Barton Springs RD, 6510, Austin

1 bed, 1 full bath

Home size: 743 sq ft

Year built: 2008

Parking spots: 1
$650,000 : 1600 Barton Springs RD, 2505, Austin

2 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,133 sq ft

Lot size: 740 sqft

Year built: 2010

Parking spots: 2
$734,900 : MLS # 6250375 in Austin

3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 2,123 sq ft

Lot size: 10,628 sqft

Year built: 1972

Parking spots: 1
$639,990 : 1600 Barton Springs RD, 5106, Austin

3 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,610 sq ft

Lot size: 1,045 sqft

Year built: 2008

Parking spots: 2
$325,000 : 1600 Barton Springs RD, 1602, Austin

1 bed, 1 full bath

Home size: 683 sq ft

Lot size: 435 sqft

Year built: 2008

Parking spots: 1
$850,000 : 1702 Cresthaven DR, Austin

4 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 3,183 sq ft

Lot size: 11,238 sqft

Year built: 1985

Parking spots: 2