From New Orleans to Bisbee (and everywhere in between), Steve Austin has spread himself and his talents around for decades. He has been a hitchhiker and nomad, as well as a photographer, chef, coffee bar owner, guesthouse owner and a home builder of his own design. “I’m always interested in 10 things at once,” said Austin.
Born and raised in New Orleans as a self-proclaimed free-range child, Austin mastered self-reliance and cultivated creativity at a young age. “I spent time exploring my imagination,” said Austin.
He got into building and planning at a young age, working with his dad on a two-story Cape Cod house in the 1950s; they put in second-floor bedrooms and bathroom. They also built a treehouse, which was a hit with both the kids and adults in the neighborhood.
His mom also played a pivotal role in his development. She acted in several roles at Le Petit Theatre in the French Quarter – bohemian influences abound – and it was an environment where he felt most comfortable during those days. “I preferred to be around adults,” said Austin.
At the age of 17, he felt confident enough to breakout on his own. He left high school in the late 1960s to join the wave of hippies hitchhiking across the country. He landed in San Francisco during the Summer of Love – luckily finding an apartment in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. “I seem to stumble into these things like Forrest Gump,” said Austin.
After going back and forth three times to the coast, he went back home to finish high school. He also got a job at a photography studio in the French Quarter; his interest in art and design was piqued.
Although he went to the University of New Orleans and the University of Hawaii for four semesters, he followed his art interest to Los Angeles to study commercial photography at the Art Center College of Design; he was the youngest person in his class at the age of 20.
When adventure called again, he moved to New York City, where he remained for 27 years. “I found myself at the right place at the right time once again,” said Austin. “I found an apartment in Greenwich Village for $300 a month and lived there for 25 years.”
His next calling was hotel restaurant school for two years – starting his own catering business out of the kitchen of his apartment and eventually expanding his business into a commercial kitchen a block away from his home. He did that for 10 years, including opening two coffee bars inspired by a vacation he took to Seattle when the coffee/espresso boom was already beginning there.
As luck would strike again (twice), the landlord/owner of the building offered to sell it to Austin and carry the mortgage. Getting back into building, he renovated the three rooms above the coffee bar to rent out as guest rooms. Then, he bought another building three doors down, expanding the number of guest rooms from three to nine. Again, that seller also carried the mortgage.
His life changed course again after that; it was post-9/11. Like many others, he sold his businesses and moved to upstate New York – first to Rhinebeck, then to Ithaca. The latter is where he became re-involved with permaculture, implementing several edible landscape features at his house before “van life” took hold of him.
He sold his properties in Ithaca and bought a Winnebago camper van – traveling six years from east to west. “I met so many people from so many walks of life,” said Austin. “It was the vast surreal landscapes that I craved, as well as the interesting folks along the way.”
During his time in the southwest, someone mentioned an artist colony (Bisbee), which he thought was all a tourist ploy; however, when he got to the other side of the Mule Pass Tunnel, he was hooked at first sight. The dramatic scenery and the eclectic and diverse architecture felt like a culmination of all the cool places he had visited.
He walked around for a day, and everything seemed to flow. “I didn’t have to think,” said Austin. “The people were friendly, and I was comfortable, not restless.” As he preferred boondocking, he headed out toward the airport and turned off on the first dirt road he saw. To his unexpected delight, he saw a for sale sign for almost 200 acres of land. Again, he fell into it with no plan at all.
Finished in 2023, Austin’s most recent project – building an off-grid casita and studio made of recycled Styrofoam (Rastra) and concrete composite blocks – is the pinnacle of all he has done and learned since his childhood days in New Orleans. It took 14 months – with the help from mainly two guys at the Verhelst Recovery House – to build the house on S. Gold Gulch Road.
Inspired by the Palm Springs indoor-outdoor lifestyle, the 833 square foot house is a one-bedroom, one-bathroom, featuring 360-degree views of Arizona and Mexico’s mountain ranges. Some of the amenities include a chef’s kitchen, an outdoor shower, two outdoor clawfoot soaking tubs and an EV charging station. ISLE of SKYe Casita is available to rent via Airbnb, VRBO or online at isleofskyeaz.com.