501 Drawbridge Rd, Austin, TX 78746

Discover a truly exceptional opportunity to embrace expansive living and build your dream home on a remarkable 5.67-acres in Austin, Texas. This property offers a unique blend of privacy and convenience, providing a serene retreat from the bustling city while maintaining easy access to urban amenities. The generous acreage presents endless possibilities, from creating a personal oasis to exploring potential developmental ventures. Renovate the 1960s single story rock residence, built like a fort, or create something new. The home encompasses 2466 square feet of thoughtfully designed living space and is perfectly situated at the top of the lot. Nestled in a desirable Austin location, this property provides a canvas for crafting your ideal living environment. The vast outdoor space invites exploration and enjoyment, promising a harmonious balance with nature. Experience the tranquility and potential that this magnificent acreage provides, a rare find that combines spaciousness with a prime address.

At 501 Drawbridge Road in Austin's Westlake Hills neighborhood, you're looking at a rare combination: 5.67 acres of privacy within reach of the city, paired with a 1967 masonry home built to last. The property sits in Eanes ISD, with Forest Trail Elementary, West Ridge Middle, and Westlake High serving the area - schools that consistently rank among Texas's top performers. At $3.90 million ($1,582 per sqft), this is land-driven pricing where the acreage becomes your foundation for what comes next.

The original 2,466-square-foot residence was constructed with masonry on all sides, the kind of solid post-war build that reflects an era when materials and craftsmanship took priority. Rather than demolish, the path forward here is restoration with intention. The home occupies the elevated portion of the lot, positioning it to take advantage of sight lines while keeping the lower acreage available for expansion, guest structures, or the kind of outdoor living space that justifies 5.67 acres in the first place. Modern updates can be layered in selectively - infrastructure, systems, finishes - without erasing the home's original character. This approach respects what was built while making it livable by today's standards.

The lot itself is private, which matters considerably this close to Austin. Drawbridge Road connects you to the surrounding area without the constant traffic flow of major corridors. Westlake Hills and the larger West Lake Hills area nearby maintain residential boundaries that protect the neighborhood's character. You're roughly 15 minutes to downtown Austin, similar distance to the Domain in North Austin, but removed enough that you genuinely feel the difference in setting.

Five acres gives you options most Austin properties can't touch. Expand the current residence thoughtfully. Build guest quarters. Create defined outdoor rooms for entertaining. Establish genuine separation between your home and the world outside. The masonry foundation means the existing structure can serve as the core, with restoration work focusing on what matters: systems, layout, and finishes that meet current living standards while keeping the original bones visible.

This is the kind of property where restoration becomes an asset rather than a burden. You're not fighting against poor construction or questionable decisions from previous owners. You're working with a fundamentally sound structure on land that will only become more valuable as Austin continues its expansion westward. The balance between preserving what works and updating what needs it defines the actual opportunity here.

Westlake Hills is an incorporated city in Austin's 78746 ZIP code, five minutes west of downtown via Bee Caves Road. Eanes ISD - ranked #1 in Texas by Niche 2026 - draws most buyers. Median home price $2.4M, with estates from $1.2M updates to $10M+ hilltop compounds.

Roughly 1,000 total homes sit on wooded lots averaging half an acre to two acres, spread across the hills south of the Colorado River. Lost Creek, Davenport Ranch, The Oaks, and Bee Caves Woods each have a different character - from 1970s ranches on established lots to new-build Hill Country Contemporary estates with 20-foot ceilings and limestone facades.

The housing stock is in a generational transition. Original 1970s-80s ranch homes sell as teardowns at $1-2M for land alone, replaced by $3-8M contemporary builds. At any given time, 25-30 homes are actively listed. Inventory is tight, and a meaningful share of deals happen off-market through agent networks.

What defines daily life here: morning coffee at Swedish Hill, school drop-off at Eanes Elementary or Bridge Point, a trail run at Wild Basin Preserve, and dinner at Sway or Las Palomas without crossing MoPac. This is a quiet neighborhood built around schools and outdoor access, not nightlife or walkable retail. The people who live here chose it for exactly that trade-off.