New But Not Nouveau

Photography by Danny Piassick   Styling by Diane Carroll   Architectural and Interior Design by Rose Mary Gatlin  

Venise Stuart’s extended family lives out of town. To encourage frequent visits, she carved out a guest suite that is private, luxurious, and comfortable and includes such thoughtful appointments as a sitting room with dining table and bar. Palladian windows flood the guest bedroom with natural light. The suite’s blue-and-white color scheme is lovely. What guest wouldn’t be at home here?

The yellow wall color in the the formal dining room is a custom mix that Venise ordered for her old house in Lakewood. She didn’t hesitate to use it again in her new Preston Hollow home. Much of the molding throughout the house was salvaged from the 1940s home that originally stood on this lot. When she ran out of salvageable molding, Venise simply had Casci Ornamental Plaster duplicate it. Mixing antiques and reproductions creates a classic, elegant room for dining.

The Stuarts’ home embraces color. The wall color here in the den, Martin Senour’s Raleigh Tavern Green, is Venise’s signature. She loves colors that are strong yet warm and peaceful. Her Scalamandre-covered love seats are about 10 years old but still in great shape (quality counts), so she recovered them, rather replacing them. The Scalamandre chintz inspired the home’s entire color palette.

Venise and Larry Stuart’s home in Preston Hollow looks like an elegant Georgian that’s been yawning under those tall oak trees for years. In fact, the home is quite new. Larry and Venise built the house in 1998 to look traditional and older, a counterpoint to the often overbuilt—and overdecorated—new Dallas construction. The result, we think, is one of the prettiest homes in the city.

When the Stuarts discovered the Preston Hollow property, the lot held an ailing 1940s home, which was poorly constructed and beyond rehabilitation. If it had to be torn down, Venise had a requirement: they would preserve many of the details and mannerisms of the original house for the new one. She also wanted a home with Georgian architectural lines. Part family historian and part decorator, Venise retrieved drawer and door hardware, sconces, lighting fixtures, wood molding, and even a fireplace mantel from the old house. Any details she couldn’t salvage, she reproduced, commissioning Casci Ornamental Plaster to recreate the plaster crown molding in the original house. Decorator Rose Mary Gatlin consulted and then directed the installation.

Venise and Rose Mary spent time researching the characteristics of 18th-century Georgian architecture before moving into the design phase. Venise wanted her home to be classically Georgian.

But Venise was not only concerned about the connection between the tear-down and her new construction; she also wanted to link her former home in Lakewood to the new house. To establish continuity, Venise introduced the colors from her former home into the new construction. She reused Raleigh Tavern Green and Benjamin Powell House Red from Martin Senour’s Williamsburg collection of paint colors, a custom-mixed yellow paint from her old house, and almond—rather than white—on all of the molding and millwork.

Venise knows what she likes, and she sticks to her guns. When she specified white marble counters throughout the house, the builder tried to convince her to use granite instead. But Venise’s research told her that white marble was typical of Georgian homes, and white marble she would have—Bianco marble, in fact. Venise isn’t into status kitchens. She asked a friend who’s also a serious cook which appliances to buy. The answer: “GE is all you’ll ever need.”

And while Venise added pieces to the new house here and there,
almost all of the furniture has been in the family for years, even generations. She upholstered a pair of love seats in her trademark Scalamandre “Victoria” chintz, which perfectly incorporated the paint

colors used throughout the house. (“We had good-quality, well-made furniture,” she says. “There was no reason to get rid of it; we just ordered more fabric!”) Antique chairs from her mother-in-law’s home had been tucked away in storage, but Venise reupholstered them for use in one of the guestrooms.

 What Venise and decorator Rose Mary have achieved is a warm, spacious, and elegant home with an Old World sensibility. It has the patina and grace of age, but it’s brand-new. Wander the rooms with us, and enjoy.

How to Give a New House
the Patina of Age

We asked Rose Mary Gatlin of Marigold Homes & Design for her tips on softening the look of a new home.

Use salvaged or antique hardware wherever possible, including bathroom fixtures, drawer and door pulls, and doorknobs.

Save as much of an original home’s molding as possible; reproduce it if you need more.

Layer several coats of flat wall paint over plaster crown moldings and medallions for a chalky, aged look.

Lay paint on walls in thick coats to create the “painted over” look.

Use antique wall sconces and lighting fixtures.

Shop for architectural elements, such as stained glass, marble fireplace surrounds and mantels, and windows and door transoms, that can be refurbished. Check out The Wrecking Barn and Lots of Furniture Antiques.

Replicate a particular architectural style or period through your selection of tile and the method or pattern of laying that tile. For instance, in Europe, you’ll often see pure white brick patterns with diagonal inserts.

Use black and white. In the Stuarts’ home, black and white marble was used in the diamond pattern in the foyer, and black and white 2-inch hexagon tiles were installed in their son’s bathroom.

The secret of the formal living room’s success is its air of easy elegance. Traditional, yes. Stuffy, no. Warm yellow walls and accents and an abundance of natural light give the room life and keep it from feeling staid or cold. Venise recycled the mantle from the old house and flanked the fireplace with display shelves. The intricate, ornamental crown molding makes a statement but doesn’t overpower the room.

It’s All in the Details

Don’t overlook the small things when giving your house that vintage feel.

< Hand-painted Delft tile was inlaid into the family room’s fireplace surround.

> The kitchen-counter material is Bianco marble. Venise wanted a simple, white sink with rounded edges and antique-looking hardware.

> The Stuarts wrapped Martin Senour’s Raleigh Tavern Green up the back stairs and added a custom ornamental design to impart texture and richness.

< Venise introduced salvaged architectural pieces, including this mantel, into her new house.

> The exterior includes many details typical of 18th-century Georgian homes, such as red and black brick and white-washed bead board with dentil molding.