An Austin Home Designed Without Windows Is Rethinking Privacy and Security
Introducing the Stealth House – Specht Novak’s revolutionary perspective on city dwelling and the first of its kind home in Austin. This forward-thinking abode defies standard perceptions surrounding seclusion and exposure. The outer shell boasts an eye-catching profile, completely devoid of windows and enveloped in corrugated Cor-Ten steel. The exterior not only bolsters security but also fosters an air of intrigue. Specht Novak’s Stealth House is located on an infill lot in Austin’s city core. It is also the home of the architect himself, Scott Specht.
Stealth House has garnered several prestigious design awards in 2025 already: AIA National, Texas Society of Architects, AIA Austin Design Award of Excellence, and several more
A New Home in Austin Is Rethinking Privacy, Security, and How We Live Today.
At first glance, the Stealth House designed by homeowner and architect Scott Specht, Specht Novak, is nearly invisible. Located on a gravel alley behind a row of traditional homes in downtown Austin, this 1,100-square-foot residence reveals little—a low, rust-colored steel façade with no outside-facing windows, offering no clue to its interior world. But step inside, and the experience is nothing short of revelatory.
Sunlight streams through floor-to-ceiling glass, illuminating two lush interior courtyards—one centered around an olive tree, the other serving as an aviary with bamboo. “We wanted to completely rethink what makes a home feel open and inviting,” says Scott Specht, Specht Novak. “Most modern homes rely on glass to connect with the outside world, but what if you don’t want to be on display? What if you want light, nature, and space without sacrificing privacy?”
The Stealth House breaks from the contemporary trend of open-plan, glass-walled homes by turning inward—drawing inspiration from the Roman domus, Moroccan riad, Chinese siheyuan, and Japanese machiya, where daily life revolves around interior courtyards. Located In a dense, walkable neighborhood where views often mean staring into someone else’s home, this design offers a clear separation between public and private spaces. “This house feels connected, but only on our own terms,” Specht adds.
Powered by a rooftop photovoltaic array with battery backup and featuring a low-power-use air-conditioning system and super-insulated envelope, the house is extremely energy-efficient. The Cor-Ten rusting steel exterior is maintenance-free, and the landscape, largely of gravel and cactus requires little attention. Everything about the Stealth House is built to be easy. “There’s no waste, no unnecessary spaces—just the essentials, done really well.
While the Stealth House is highly personal, its ideas could have larger implications for urban housing. Its compact footprint, acoustical and visual separation, and energy independence make it a model for accessory dwelling units, infill housing, and even “unbuildable” sites near highways and industrial zones.
“It’s a prototype,” Specht says. “It shows how you can live well in a small space, even in a dense area, without sacrificing privacy or sustainability.” More than anything, though, the house is an answer to the evolving way we live now— in an environment of increasing social unease where the comfort of security, peace, and control over one’s environment are more valuable than an unobstructed view of the street.”
So I created a separate partition on my drive and downloaded and installed it. First impression? Meh. I don’t hate the new UI like so many are complaining about, but I’m also in no hurry to rush out and make it my daily driver. Of course I will when it’s officially released, but right now I see nothing compelling enough to jump wholeheartedly into the beta program and put my data at risk. (Remember, I learned that lesson—unfortunately multiple times—in the past.)
I will say, however, that for the first developer beta of a new O/S, it seems incredibly stable compared to times past. For the few hours I was playing with it nothing locked up, nothing crashed…but admittedly I wasn’t doing any of my usual tasks since none of my daily applications were installed.
I’ll also say that I rather like the new wallpaper, as trivial as that may seem. I snagged it to use with my existing Sequoia installation.
“we’re celebrating big on Saturday, we’re gonna have a lot of— and if any protestor wants to come out, they will be met with very big force, by the way. and for those people who want to protest, they’re gonna be met with very big force.”
wait, how big? very big? oh, okay. thanks for clarifying that, Mr. Dimwit With The Vocabulary Of A Toddler.
with all due respect, Donny, you can fuck straight off with your tough-guy threats. everybody doesn’t have to love you — and the last time I looked, the right to assemble was still guaranteed by the First Amendment of our Constitution.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
on Saturday, June 14 — the same day as Donny’s Big Birthday Parade — we’re going to right-to-assemble the shit out of America.
there will be hundreds of No Kings protests happening on Saturday — join one near you.
The Army is preparing for the potential harm to Washington streets with several measures it hopes will avert damage. These include using 1-inch-thick steel plates, some as long as 20 feet, at places along the parade route where the tanks must turn and where those turns could cause the most damage to the streets.
this is all so unnecessary. tens of million of dollars, pissed right down the drain, just so a broken-inside narcissist can pretend he’s not the worthless piece of shit failure that his father never stopped telling him he was.
you can only have two government-approved dolls and five pencils, but Donny gets to have a skillionty tanks and spend all the money he wants on a vanity parade.
“the current estimated cost is $134 million dollars.”
wrap your mind around that. one hundred and thirty-four million dollars, just so the National Guard can “protect” a few square blocks of downtown Los Angeles from its own residents. what a waste.
think about that, the next time some Republican fuckwad tells you that we can’t afford to give seniors healthcare, or provide hot lunches to schoolchildren.
every time you think Donny’s reached the bottom of the barrel, he somehow manages to kick his way though and go even lower. he turns every public appearance into a highly-politicized campaign rally. here he is, goading assembled troops at Fort Bragg into booing Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
“in Los Angeles, the Governor of California, the Mayor of Los Angeles [boos]. they’re incompetent, and they paid troublemakers, agitators and insurrectionists. they’re engaged in this willful attempt to nullify federal law and aid the occupation of the city by criminal invaders.”
what just oozed out of Donny’s rancid anus-mouth? did he just accuse Newsom and Bass of paying the protestors? that’s what it sounded like to me. what the fuck?
just imagine if Joe Biden had goaded a bunch of troops into booing Greg Abbott or Ron DeSantis. Republicans would have burned DC to the ground. Comer Fudd would have started bleeding from the eyeballs. Hannity would have shit a massive brick on live TV, and then had it bronzed.
but Republicans think it’s just fine when Donny uses our troops as props, and starts shit-talking Democrats. in fact, they just join right in, like it’s the funniest fucking thing on Earth.
reporter: “Speaker Johnson, the president said, possibly in jest, that if he were Tom Homan, he would arrest Gavin Newsom. do you believe that Newsom should face consequences, in a legal way?”
Holy Mike: “um. uh. look. that’s not my lane. I’m not gonna give you legal analysis whether Gavin Newsom should be arrested, bu he oughta be tarred and feathered, I’ll say that.”
oh fuck right off, Speaker Limpdick. Gavin Newsom should be tarred and feathered? for what, exactly? for back-talking Dear Leader? is that a crime now?
Mike Johnson holds a law degree from LSU. legal analysis is his lane. he knows that Gavin Newsom hasn’t broken any laws — but he has to toe Donny’s line and pretend that Gavin’s a master criminal, because Holy Mike is a cowardly fucking weasel.
“democracy is under assault before our eyes. this moment we have feared has arrived. he’s taking a wrecking ball to our founding fathers’ historic project. three co-equal branches of independent government. there no longer any checks and balances. Congress is nowhere to be found. Speaker Johnson has completely abdicated that responsibility. the rule of law has increasingly been given way to the rule of Don. the founding fathers, they didn’t live and die to see this kind of moment. it’s time for all of us to stand up. Justice Brandeis, he said it best. in a democracy, the most important office, with all due respect, Mr. President, is not the presidency. and it’s certainly not governor. the most important office is Office of Citizen. at this moment, we all need to stand up and be held to account, a higher level of accountability. if you exercise your First Amendment rights, please, please — do it peacefully.”
when Donny Bone Spurs sent the National Guard to quote-unquote ‘bring order’ to the completely-avoidable ‘crisis’ he manufactured, do you know what he didn’t send along with them? anything for the Guard to eat, or drink. any place for them to sleep, or shit.
he just unceremoniously dumped them in the middle of Los Angeles without planning or forethought, and said sayonara, fucknuggets, you’re on your own. why? because Donny is an incompetent imbecile, and that’s how incompetent imbeciles roll.
“This is what happens when the president and (Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth) demand the National Guard state assets deploy immediately with no plan in place … (and) no federal funding available for food, water, fuel and lodging,” the source said. “This is really the failure of the federal government. If you’re going to federalize these troops, then take care of them.”
“Currently, there is no plan for where everyone is sleeping tonight,” the source said, adding that there was an urgent need to find more portable bathrooms and dumpsters for garbage.
isn’t it heartening to know that ‘because fuck you, that’s why’ also extends to the brave men and women who serve our country?
this is the level of expertise that Donny brings to his job: zero.
never forget that as powerful as the position of United States President is, Donny totally fucking sucks at his job — and all his Sewer Clowns suck attheir jobs, too.
When called into federal service, the National Guard becomes part of the Department of Defense
that means that the federalized Guard in Los Angeles is currently the responsibility of the Fox News dunk-tank clown who the Mad King decided would make the perfect Secretary of Defense.
do you think the tipsy chat-show host who now runs the DoD knows — or cares — about logistics? fuck no, he does not. but you know what SecDef Kegstand does have? his own really cool makeup studio in the Pentagon, so his hair will be perfect at all times.
priorities!
this macho-obsessed uber-bro never stops yammering about warfighters and battle readiness — and what does he do during his first test of his mettle? he tanks it.
fuck me, a carload of drag queens could have done a better job of feeding the Guard.
reporter: “Gavin Newsom is daring Tom Homan to come and arrest him. should he do it?”
Donny: “I would do it, if I were Tom … I think it would be a great thing.”
reporter: “what crime has Gavin Newsom committed?”
Donny: “what crime has he committed? I think his primarily— his primary crime is running for governor.”
perfectly normal stuff, the chief executive of the land deciding ad hoc that doing stuff I don’t like is now a crime. Donny wasn’t joking. there’s no smile on his face, or levity in his tone of voice.
nothing to see here, folks, just a spiteful, vindictive Mad King, making shit up as he goes along — exactly as our founders intended when they drafted the Constitution.
let’s back up a bit. the whole reason for the exchanges between Donny and the reporters was ‘border czar’ Tom Homan’s weekend threat to arrest Newsom if he tries to ‘interfere’ with the ICE’s Los Angeles raids — a threat to which Newsom replied, bring it, shitnozzle.
“the fear, the horror, who the hell is this guy? come after me, arrest me, let’s just get this over with, tough guy.”
Tom Homan apparently believes his job now entails playing dress-up and preening for the camera. dude, sit the fuck down. you’re a bureaucrat, not a background extra in some action movie.
Tom must have gotten jealous of all the airtime ICE Barbie was getting.
Tom Homan apparently believes his job now entails playing dress-up and preening for the camera. dude, sit the fuck down. you’re a bureaucrat, not a background extra in some action movie.
Tom must have gotten jealous of all the airtime ICE Barbie was getting
Fox: “what do you say to her point and Gavin Newsom making the same point that all the chaos and everything you’re seeing now is because ICE showed up on the scene, that everything was peaceful up until that moment.”
DHS official Tricia McLaughlin: “that’s absolutely ridiculous. it’s just on Friday night, we— when LAPD was not responding for two hours, our ICE office was surrounded by a thousand protestors. they were uh lighting American flags on fire. burning them as they were hoisting up foreign flags. it’s un-American activity going on, and it was becoming very violent. they were pummeling our ICE enforcement officers with rocks.”
here’s a pro tip for Fox: when making the case that all of Los Angeles is a violent, lawless hellhole, don’t support that case by showing live feed of a people swaying to music in LA’s downtown.
also, if Fox is making the case that ‘hoisting up foreign flags’ is now an ‘un-American activity’ — tell me, is this a foreign flag?
these, to refresh everyone’s memory, are the homeys Donny described as “very fine people” as they marched in Charlottesville in 2017.
how about this dude?
bro here seems a bit confused about which America he belongs to.
here’s a map that that I want you to keep in mind as you listen to Donny and the Sewer Clowns — aided and abetted by the entire wingnut outrage/industrial complex — work overtime to convince you that the entirety of Los Angeles has been ‘swarmed’ by commie anarchists, and that the entire city is consumed by fire and violence.
it was sent to me by commenter Alison Parker, but I didn’t receive it in time to include it in the emailed version of yesterday’s post.
this is the City of Los Angeles. circled in red is the downtown area where the protests are.
so please, Donny, tell us again how all of Los Angeles has been ‘overrun’ by ‘insurrectionists.’ it’s such a cute story.
let’s be clear: Preznit Fuckwit needed a distraction. his tariff scheme went tits-up. everyone’s laughing at Taco Donny. Putin’s ignoring him. no one’s impressed with his vulgar flying bordello. his ‘big beautiful bill’ is a big beautiful clusterfuck. DOGE is a bust. his bromance with the Space Nazi has gone fuckity-bye.
the Mad King had to come up with something, anything, to make him feel better about his own worthless, failing self — and so he decided to go full fascist.
a lot of fucked-up shit went down this weekend in Los Angeles. let’s let California Governor Gavin Newsom sum up perfectly why the blame for all of it needs to land squarely on the Mad King’s shoulders.
“Let’s get this straight:
1) Local law enforcement didn’t need help.
2) Trump sent troops anyway — to manufacture chaos and violence.
3) Trump succeeded.
4) Now things are destabilized and we need to send in more law enforcement just to clean up Trump’s mess.”
let’s back this up one step further: none of this had to happen at all.
On Friday morning, federal agents from ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted raids across Los Angeles, including at two Home Depots, a doughnut shop, and a clothing wholesaler, in search of workers they suspected of being undocumented immigrants.
got that? ICE went on a fishing expedition based on zero evidence. they invaded places of business. they targeted random brown people at locations where they were likely to be found. which, in Los Angeles, is everyfuckingwhere.
ICE went looking for trouble — and when they didn’t find any, they started some.
you know who else took care of immigration policy without fucking everything all to hell? Barack Obama. Bill Clinton. both Smirky Bush and Poppy Bush. Ronald Reagan. Jimmy Carter. Gerald Ford. on and on.
it’s only the Mad King who turned the simple task of managing the border into a five-alarm shithole nightmare. I guess that’s just a coincidence.
“Great job by the National Guard in Los Angeles after two days of violence, clashes and unrest … Again, thank you to the National Guard for a job well done!”
it cannot be stressed enough that Donny posted this about six hours before a single National Guard deployed in Los Angeles.
“A once great American City, Los Angeles, has been invaded and occupied by Illegal Aliens and Criminals. Now violent, insurrectionist mobs are swarming and attacking our Federal Agents to try and stop our deportation operations.”
none of that shit is true. Los Angeles hasn’t been ‘invaded’ or ‘occupied.’ violent mobs aren’t ‘swarming.’
one hundred and twenty one people. in a city of 3.821 million. that’s not an invasion, nor an occupation. that’s a rounding error away from zero.
this isn’t the first time Donny’s pulled this “everything’s burning to the ground and only I can save it” bullshit. during the George Floyd protests in 2020, Donny never stopped beating the drum about how Portland, Oregon was a smoking ruin.
Portland’s fire department has a message for President Donald Trump: the whole city is not on fire.
At a Monday news conference, Trump claimed that protests in Portland have been so damaging that “the entire city is ablaze all the time.”
the Portland protests were confined to a small, downtown area — but Donny did such a good job of lying that to this day, there are cultists who will swear to you that the entire city of Portland remains a smoking pile of ashes.
and now the Mad King is doing it all over again with Los Angeles.
did you notice that Donny referred to the protestors as ‘insurrectionists’? that’s because words no longer have meanings in America.
“An insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States.”
and when there was only one set of footprints, that’s when Jesus was standing behind Pee Wee German, rolling his eyes and miming jerkoff motions.
yeah, no, jackass: protesting human rights violations is in no way an insurrection. do you really need a definition of an insurrection? here’s one: an insurrection is when you’re such a big fucking baby that you can’t deal with losing an election, and so you whip your deranged worshipers into a frenzy, and then send them off to storm the Capitol, beat the shit out of cops, and stop the certification of votes.
“Hit a cop, you’re going to jail… doesn’t matter where you came from, how you got here, or what movement speaks to you. If the local police force won’t back our men and women on the thin blue line, we will.”
hey Krazee Eyes, what about these guys?
every single one of these cop-beating shitbags got pardoned by Dear Leader on his first day in office.
hyperventilating Republicans had a message for Joe: deploying the National Guard would be a bridge too far, because states rights!
but now, when Dear Leader wants the Guard to patrol California, suddenly states’ rights are no longer an issue, because — well, frankly, I’m having a hard time deciding if it’s because reasons or because fuck you, that’s why. maybe it’s both.
meanwhile, Donny remains glued to the TV and rooting for bloodshed — in his own country. what kind of broken-inside fuck does that?
arrest the people wearing face masks? who, the ICE goons?
you know, I seem to remember someone warning us that all this would come to pass, if Donny were elected. I also remember that the media was all shut the fuck up, laughing lady.
“Kamala’s newest lie: Trump will send the army after you.”
uh-huh. tell me, is it a lie if something comes true?
got that? the Mad King isn’t using the laws of our land for toilet paper — he’s ‘charting new territory.’ thanks for clearing that up, LA Times.
Donny spent his entire first presidency chipping away at the Constitution. now he’s traded his chisel for a blowtorch — and the worthless scribblers of the corporate-controlled press are still treating Donny’s ever-quickening rush to fascism as if it were just some interesting variation on governance.
what are we even doing here, worthless scribblers?
stay angry.
stay safe.
and never lose your sense of humor.
Trump nearly falls flat on his face while struggling to walk up the steps to Air Force One today
