Austin-based online travel marketplace, HomeAway Inc., opened its fourth office in the area at The Domain Oct. 13.

Currently, HomeAway at The Domain has about 300 employees and by April, the company hopes to have more than 750, said CEO and Founder Brian Sharples.

In the spring, retail tenants are expected to occupy the first floor of the building and additional HomeAway employees will occupy the fourth and fifth floors once they are completed.

The new building, designed with a travel theme in mind, is decorated with a plethora of travel relics such as employee photos from various cities, snow globes, shot glasses and key chains. The third floor includes a paper birds display made out of travel maps and conference rooms are named after famous streets in various cities, including Melrose Boulevard in Los Angeles. Senior Manager of Facilities Ronda Stahl said Sharples created several art pieces for the headquarters office in downtown Austin.

"Because of Brian's love of architecture and art, he was very passionate about how our business could be exhibited through design, finishes, art, photography and graphics in our workplace," Stahl said. "We make sure his vision for each office has its own personality and displays the fun vacation theme, which is the backbone of our business and culture."

HomeAway's Domain office also includes an outdoor patio and a large kitchen with Ping-Pong and shuffleboard. The office also includes an interactive tutorial room to demonstrate how HomeAway works.

" After many discussions and research, we determined that The Domain complex could best accommodate our needs," Sharples said. "It is conveniently located, with easy access to public transportation, provides plenty of options for lunch and shopping, and we were able to build a brand new space that meets our desires. We also liked that it was a mixed use development not only with offices, shopping and eating, but also convenient hotels and apartments."

HomeAway has offices in the U.S. and international offices including Australia, France, Germany, Switzerland and Thailand.

"HomeAway was founded in Austin nine years ago with a staff of six, and today has more than 920 local employees and more than 1,720 worldwide," he said. "We are still a relatively young company, and there is a lot of opportunity ahead of us, which means we will continue growing our headcount in Austin for the foreseeable future."