This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate
When sisters Alyssa and Tessa Hendrie had the opportunity in 2019 to buy a two-bedroom condominium downtown, they they jumped at the chance. After a $75,000 renovation, they dubbed it the Bitchin' River Walk.
Instead of a conventional dining table, the condo uses four small, round, marble-topped bistro tables. The result looks clean, uncluttered and exudes the je ne sais quoi of a Parisian cafe.
Alyssa Hendrie poses with her sister, Tessa Hendrie, on a FaceTime call inside their condo along the River Walk downtown. The sisters own Bitchin' Digs, a Malibu-based design and real estate consulting firm that uses the condo as their San Antonio office.
The condo underwent a two-year, $75,000 makeover after the sisters purchased it in 2019.
A vase with buds sits on one of the bistro tables in the dining area.
The dining area is reflected in a mirror in the River Walk condo with attitude.
The renovation opened up the main room by removing a wall that had separated the kitchen from the living area.
The original kitchen had a partial wall that cut off the view out the balcony and to the River Walk. As part of the renovation, the wall was removed, opening up the room.
Once the kitchen wall was removed, the view out through the balcony doors to the River Walk was unimpeded.
The main bedroom also has multiple lighting options, including can lights in the ceiling, pendant lights on either side of the bed, reading lights on the nightstands and a string of tiny fairy lights running along the edge of the headboard.
The mirrors in the main bathroom mimic the quatrefoil shape that is so much a part of the San Antonio culture.
The condo hadn’t been upgraded since the 1980s, and features such as the walk-in tub didn’t fit the lifestyle of the two young businesswomen.
The PNC Bank building can be seen out the main bedroom window. The condo’s downtown location means it can be a bit noisy, so the sisters added area rugs and curtains to dampen it.
The fourth-floor condo overlooks the River Walk in downtown San Antonio
The balcony has a porch swing, a common feature of the sisters' design work.
The sisters added more color to the second bedroom because it faces away from the River Walk and so doesn't have a view.
Sisters Alyssa and Tessa Hendrie grew up in California but spent many a vacation in San Antonio, visiting their grandparents who lived in Alamo Heights.
Their grandmother, Helen Marie Hendrie, was a founding member of the Southwest School of Art, so a visit to the school was often on the agenda.
“We were treated like royalty there,” said Alyssa, 41. “And grandma always took us to the gift shop so we could buy a piece of art or jewelry made by the artists there. We loved it.”
So when the sisters had the opportunity in 2019 to buy a two-bedroom, two-bath condominium close enough to the school they can see the clock tower from the fourth-floor balcony, they didn’t hesitate.
“We can feel our grandmother’s presence here,” said Tessa, 34. “We fall in love with the place and want to keep it forever.”
The condo is also perfectly situated to serve as the San Antonio headquarters for their Malibu, Calif.-based design and real estate consulting firm that goes by the cheeky name Bitchin’ Digs.
“It’s a nod to the 1970s lingo,” Alyssa explained, extending her thumb and pinkie in a “hang 10” gesture. “One of our properties was a beach house and our dad came up with the name. He said ‘It’s a bitchin’ beach house, man.’”
But before the condo could become bitchin’, it needed a $75,000 makeover.
The place hadn’t been upgraded since the 1980s. There were textured, red terra cotta walls, a cheaply tiled kitchen countertop, track lighting throughout and one of the bathrooms even had a — yikes! — walk-in tub. It just didn’t fit the lifestyle of two young businesswomen who split their time between San Antonio and a West Coast office that has 180-degree views of Zuma Beach.
So the sisters got to work — with Tessa serving as the lead designer and Alyssa the project manager.
They had two goals while updating the place. First, they wanted it to feel more spacious than its 1,100 square feet. And second, they wanted to instill design elements unique to San Antonio.
It took two years, thanks to pandemic-related delays, but now it’s their “love letter” to the city.
More home design: San Antonio builder creates her dream home, and a showcase home, in Inverness neighborhood
The biggest thing they did was to remove the partial kitchen wall that blocked the view out the patio doors to the River Walk below.
“One of my favorite things to do when designing a new place is to design to the view,” Tessa said. “When you’ve got a great view, take advantage of it.”
They also replaced that tile countertop with one made from concrete poured on-site. Painted white, it is 3 inches thick and measures 12 ½ feet by 6 ½ feet.
“We saw concrete countertops like this in San Miguel de Allende and fell in love with them,” Alyssa said.
Together, the newly opened space and the expansive countertop help connect the kitchen to the adjacent dining and sitting area, transforming what had been two smaller rooms into one large, open and airy space.
Instead of a conventional dining table, they bought four small, round, marble-topped bistro tables. The result looks clean, uncluttered and exudes the je ne sais quoi of a Parisian cafe.
“We can also move them around when we want, and it makes the whole place look bigger,” Tessa said.
They used other design tricks, old and new, to make the condo feel more spacious. In the bedrooms, they mounted several full-length mirrors that reflect light and color across the space, such as the one in the main bedroom, for example, that brings more River Walk greenery inside.
Elsewhere, they installed can lights in the corners of the ceilings, rather than in the middle.
“In smaller spaces, the light draws the eye, making it seem like the room is larger than it is,” Tessa explained.
More home design: No kidding: Medina's Goat Sheds house, made of five connected pods, is as quirky as its name
The main bedroom also has multiple lighting options, including can lights in the ceiling, pendant lights on either side of the bed, reading lights on the nightstands and a string of tiny fairy lights running along the edge of the headboard.
“You can use different lights based on the time of day, your mood, whether you’re working, sleeping or watching TV,” Tessa said.
Throughout the apartment, there are variations of the cloverlike quatrefoil pattern that’s found throughout the city, especially on the walls and bridges of the River Walk.
They used the pattern on the tile used to face the fireplace, in the kitchen backsplash, the bathroom showers, even the top of the cased opening leading from the living area to the bedrooms.
“Repetition is incredibly important in design,” Tessa said. “If you don’t have enough, things can feel chaotic.”
Elsewhere, they selected designs and colors to complement the surrounding environment. In the living area, for example, a pair of emerald velvet cub chairs face a silver velvet couch, the colors chosen for the way they blend into the view out the balcony, which is filled with cypress trees and the natural stone used along the River Walk.
“Every element of the design was carefully crafted to celebrate the beauty of the San Antonio area,” Tessa said.
Draperies on the windows and the sliding glass doors leading to the balcony serve multiple purposes.
“I love draperies because they really enhance the look of a room,” Tessa said. “We usually do two layers, one that’s a heavier blackout drapery for when we want to watch TV or a movie, and the other that’s lighter and flows in the breeze.”
When closed, they they help keep the interior of the apartment cooler in summer, warmer in winter. They also added draperies to the perimeter of the balcony that can be closed to add another layer of insulating material.
And because of its downtown location, things can get a bit noisy, especially when city buses rumble down the street outside. The heavy curtains, along with the many area rugs and runners on the floor, help dampen the noise.
“It’s actually really comfortable and cozy in here,” Alyssa said.
rmarini@express-news.net | Twitter: @RichardMarini
Richard A. Marini is a features reporter for the San Antonio Express-News where he's previously been an editor and columnist. The Association of Food Journalists once awarded him Best Food Columnist. He has freelanced for American Archaeology, Cooking Light and many other publications. Reader's Digest once sent him to Alaska for a week. He came back.