The name "Old Austin Realtor®" expresses with a bit of humor my special interest in "Old Austin." My real estate practice grew out of my commitment to historic preservation and neighborhood planning.

I have served for a number of years on the Heritage Society Board and presently co-chair the Preservation Committee.

For six years I managed and taught a continuing education course for Realtors®, "Marketing and Selling Historic Properties," co-sponsored by the Austin Board of Realtors® and the Heritage Society.

For seven years I served on the Community Action Network, the planning body for health and human services for Austin and Travis County. While there I worked on the city's Affordable Housing Work Group which studied housing needs in Austin and published "Through the Roof," a useful report of Austin's housing needs. I bring my concerns about affordability into conversations about preservation and vice versa.

I've also had the privilege of serving on the planning team of the Central Austin Combined Neighborhood Plan, which was adopted in 2004. We brought together an amazingly diverse group to form a comprehensive plan for seven neighborhoods close to the University of Texas. We demonstrated the power of a shared vision and common goals to transcend differing interests and points of view. We continue to oversee issues that arise in implementing the plan.

In 2007, I was appointed to the newly formed Public Safety Task Force , a group authorized by the City Council to advise on policies affecting the police, fire and emergency services departments. That work ended in mid-2008 when the task force was phased out and replaced by a permanent commission.

All of these activities have been useful to me in working with clients as they search for a home and a neighborhood in Central Austin.

I live with my husband Lewie Donelson, a professor at Austin Presbyterian Seminary, in the Suehs House, just north of the UT campus. The house was built in 1914, by Dr. Paul Suehs and his wife, Laura Marburgher Suehs. We bought our house in 1998 and hired restoration specialist David Stark as our contractor. Our work was recognized with the 1999 Historic Preservation Award from the Heritage Society of Austin. In 2004 our home was designated a City of Austin Landmark.

I enjoy my work with The Kinney Company Real Estate Services. We complement each other's knowledge and expertise and share a commitment to the kind of personal service we bring to every client, whether they are buying or selling a home.