About

Our story

We are a multicultural family living in the Texas Hill Country. Tom is an engineer, originally from Germany. Aurélie is a designer, originally French-Indonesian.

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<newcol> We have a house in San Antonio that we renovated ourselves in a modern European style, with a contemplative nature garden and water feature.

We also have a 21-acre land near Bandera where we are working to restore a native ecosystem and create a sanctuary for wild birds and pollinators, and where we plan to live.

Aurélie

I am a designer. I create new ways of living in harmony with nature, including our own human nature, in order to help restore biodiversity.

Tom

I am an engineer. I use technology to create healthy and resilient living spaces shared by humans and wildlife.

Why a hummingbird as logo?

Hummingbirds are common in the Texas Hill Country. Every year from spring to fall, we see ruby-throated hummingbirds daily, in our garden in San Antonio and our land in Bandera. They look like beautiful miniature animal jewels. But far from fragile, hummingbirds have extraordinary endurance. Did you know that the rufous hummingbird flies 3,900 miles (6,300 km) when migrating every year from Alaska to Mexico and has the longest migration of all birds measured in body size? In addition, hummingbirds enter a state of torpor and drop their body temperature every night to save energy, from about 40-41°C (about 104-105°F) to 10-15°C (50-60°F) on average, with the lowest ever recorded at 3°C (37°F) which is close to freezing! And despite their small size, it is impossible to keep hummingbirds in captivity. With their beauty, resilience, and fierce love of freedom, hummingbirds are a source of inspiration to us.

The hummingbird symbolizes our love for nature and wildlife. It is our guiding star on our quest to live in harmony with nature and help restore biodiversity.

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