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| HISTORIC CHARM: When it was designed in 1925 by English architect Sir Alfred Blossom, Maple Terrace was the largest use of stucco in the world. |
Cool Like That
The Maple Terrace apartments are like a hip private club for interior decorators, fashion stylists, architects, and others creatively inclined.
Between 2001 and 2002, the Maple Terrace was in limbo, waiting to be converted from a creaking old apartment building favored by serious artists and even more serious decorators into a glamorous boutique hotel, favored by, we assume, black-clad fashionistas and other trendy types who frequent such hotels. In the interim, things got a little run-down. Leases were not renewed, and some of its oldest tenants reluctantly left. The legendary 70-year-old dowager was at death’s door, with only memories of her once-glorious past to look forward to.
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| VINTAGE: Original tile floors still adorn Maple Terrace. |
That’s when things got exciting. For the first time in decades, there was no longer a waiting list to get in. Apartments were available for rent, albeit short-term, and those who’d always wanted to live inside the massive grey-stucco walls had a chance. New people moved in, and fresh paint went up. They lived month-to-month, grateful for the opportunity to share the same space with the memories of Shirley MacLaine, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Judy Garland, Dean Martin, and Jerry Lewis, all of whom resided at this landmark for a time while performing in town. Artists Dan Rizzie and Bob “Daddy-O” Wade have lived here, as have fashion designer Todd Oldham, theater maven Margot Jones, museum curator and collector Bill Jordan, and Joan Davidow of the Dallas Center for Contemporary Art. When decorator James Ryland was offered a short-term lease, he was ecstatic, telling D Home in a January 2001 story, “At least I can say that I’ve lived here.” He echoed the sentiments of many. Infused with new blood, the Maple Terrace buzzed with lively dinner parties and gossip and cocktails around the pool. Demolition and eviction deadlines came and went, and finally when the financing floundered, so did investors hopes for the hotel. In late 2001, management changed hands, units got fixed up again, and long-term leases were offered. There’s a waiting list once again.
In the Uptown world of luxury apartments and condos, where upgrades such as bamboo flooring and all-stainless steel kitchens have become standard, the Maple Terrace is an anomaly. Apartments do not have washer or dryer connections. The plumbing is suspect, and while central air and heat were added in the 1960s, there are no individual unit thermostats; residents wait for the building to turn on air and heat each season. Ancient defunct radiators still grace each room, providing consternating decorating challenges. Kitchens – the size of closets – are equipped with only the basics, and that does not include microwaves. Otis elevators from the 1920s, with their original brass gates, have minds of their own. So what is it about this place that has such a hold on some of the most creative people in town?
Art deco moldings, arches, original tiled floors, plaster walls, oversized windows, details such as brass fire hose spigots, and the freedom to paint and renovate one’s apartment at will are some of the reasons people clamor to get in. Mostly it’s the camaraderie of likeminded folks who tend to be a little kooky. In the Maple Terrace, kooky is good.
In the old days it was considered a rite of passage for anyone who was creative to have lived at least once in the Maple Terrace. For decorator John Bobbitt, who moved into the building more than 10 years ago, left briefly in 2002, and returned last year, the lure is as much about the people as its old-fashioned charm. “People who live here are passionate about things other than going to work and coming home to watch TV,” he says. “This is an old-fashioned Melrose Place, where everyone knows everyone else’s business. At the end of the day, we all gather outside with our wine and our dogs and tell stories.” The type of people who make up this community – and the Maple Terrace is its own community – is important to the people whose work requires creative inspiration. Says Bobbitt: “Winston Churchill once said, ’We shape our dwellings, and afterwards, our dwellings shape us.’ The Maple Terrace has character, and houses a few, too.”
WHO LIVES AT MAPLE TERRACE NOW
Ike Isenhour
interior decorator
Mimi Tullis
retired interior decorator, moved into the building in 1959
Mary Malouf
writer and food critic
Angus Wynne
entertainment executive and booker
Lynn Barnard
architect
Ken Knight
retailer and writer
Jacklyn Butler
interior decorator
Jan Martin
associate AIA, interior decorator
John Bobbitt
allied member ASID, interior designer
Deborah Points
fashion photo stylist
Jack Vroom
music industry executive
Harry Hudson
designer of Western hatbands, belts, and silver accessories
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| ZEN DINING: Points Zen-simple dining room has raised Japanese tatami mats and leather cushions; a glass topped table made from old railroad ties, acquired from the Katy Railroad; Illuminations frosted glass votive holders; and a large Balinese footed, round wooden tray. Top Left: Points collection of old vessels holds a found bird’s nest. |
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
In 2000, when everyone else was moving out of the Maple Terrace, anticipating its imminent conversion into a boutique hotel, fashion photo stylist Deborah Points couldn’t wait to move in. “That was my last chance,” she says. “I just had to live in the Maple Terrace. It’s a design treasure, and it has strong character and architecture.” Her luck held out. A spot opened up, plans fell through for the hotel, and she’s called the Maple Terrace home for the last four years.
Stylish and soothing, Points apartment is her refuge. Upholstery is all-natural, never synthetic. There are leather poufs and pillows; vegetable-dyed cotton textiles from Bali; a raffia Kuba cloth; a linen duvet cover and silk-and-cotton sheets from Purists, which specializes in all-organic bedding; and luxurious cashmere throws. Neutral tones of taupe, brown, and white imbue a sense of calm. Rooms are orderly and spare, but warm. Points makes bold statements with simple objects such as a collection of old vessels. Brought back from trips abroad, some of her favorites include a brass-and-clay pot from Tibet, a mahogany bowl from Africa, and woven wood-and-straw baskets from Peru, Africa, Indonesia, Japan, and China. She’s especially proud of a collection of black plates from artist Maria Martinez of New Mexico, purchased from the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe.
Points is drawn to organic items. A bird’s nest, placed on a table like a work of art, has an inside/outside appeal and was inspired by portrait photographer Herb Ritts, who often captured his subjects in natural environments. A spiral grapevine, which she brought back from Mississippi and placed in a corner like a piece of sculpture, references Georgia O’Keeffe, who collected and displayed natural elements, Points says. Life imitates art, or vice versa.
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| LUXURY: A pair of 1920s era walnut and glass doors separate the living room and library. ALSO SHOWN: antique Persian camelhair rug, coffee table made from a clockworks that was salvaged from an old French clock tower, console made from white-marble architectural element with faux-marble top, 18th-century framed drawing of a French port, and sofa is a copy of an 18th-century Swedish sofa. |
THEORY OF EVOLUTION
Nothing in John Bobbitt’s apartment was bought for the sake of decoration. Everything has a personal connection or historical reference, says the interior decorator, who has been an off-and-on resident of the Maple Terrace since 1993. A coffee table whose base is made from the mechanical works of an English clock tower has an appeal that harkens back to childhood. “When I was small I used to play at my father’s manufacturing plant. The head machinist used to give me a box of tools and old machine parts to keep me busy,” recalls Bobbitt, who grew up with a fascination for engines and other mechanical devices.
He’s also passionate about collecting old architectural elements and prints and drawings. “When I find one, I can’t let it go, even if I can’t afford it,” he says. His apartment is filled with the accumulation of his obsession, prints are hung on the walls and propped on shelves, and others are piled up on the floor. A favorite drawing, from a series of 18th-century French port scenes, hangs above a console made from marble architectural remnants salvaged from a 19th-century building.
Many of his furnishings reflect an evolution of small collections that he began as a teenager (“You know it only takes three things to make a collection,” he jokes.), such as globes made from antique wood, stone, and iron, and a plethora of cherished books, which he refers to as friends. “I did a lot in this apartment to accommodate my library,” says Bobbitt, who renovated a spacious room off the living area, adding built-in bookshelves and antique walnut-and-glass French doors for privacy and light. “I don’t want to sound sentimental,” he says, “but my house is my haven.”
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| GREEN WITH ENVY: Vibrant green is a pleasing backdrop for a guest bedroom, says Jan Martin, who often uses this 1965 chrome, glass, and ebonized-wood desk, designed by Franco Albini from Knoll International, as a dressing table. The black Series 7 chair was designed by Arne Jacobsen. |
WORK IN PROGRESS
Jan Martin’s apartment appears spur-of-the-moment, almost as if she’s just moved in, unpacked, and things have fallen into place only moments earlier. Looks are deceptive. It takes training to be spontaneous, and Martin studied the art of the impromptu for seven years with the late master modernist Tonny Foy, who believed that rooms should not be too planned and should allow for flexibility. “Tonny wanted to feel movement, so he’d always use small tables, and place them off-center from a coffee table,” says Martin, co-owner of Zero 3, which specializes in restaurant design and architecture.
In her apartment, black-marble Saarinen cigarette tables are all she needs to accommodate a vintage Ward Bennett sofa, which she’s re-covered numerous times over the course of 20 years in the same gray linen velvet. The sofa’s light enough to move closer to a window in the evenings for a view of the pool below, and a cigarette table is small enough to drag around the room at will, whether to allow her sit at the window or to eat dinner in front of the TV.
For the narrow dining area Martin designed a portable table from cypress planks, attached underneath by leather straps. The custom-designed iron base is removable, and the tabletop can be easily broken down and carried by its straps. “I avoid heavy furniture that I can’t move around because I really like the flexibility to change the space,” she says. Simplicity is key, not only for ease of movement, but so that her eye doesn’t fatigue. “If I can keep most of the surroundings plain, I don’t get tired of them,” she says. Accessories such as pillows, lamps, and rugs are added and subtracted as her mood changes. Says Martin: “It’s a living space.”
