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| The house exterior. |
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| In the living room, gold, terra cotta, and blue-green complement a mix of classic Italian and French pieces grouped for intimate conversation. “I wanted a place where eight people could sit down and talk without shouting,” Sears says. To have the antique fireplace mantel work in tandem with the home’s 12-foot coffered ceilings it couldn’t be too tall. “So many old ones aren’t human in proportion—they become almost altar like,” she says of such scale. |
Most grand houses are feats of two creative minds: first, the architect, whose skillful work is closely followed by a decorator’s cleverly orchestrated interiors (with luxe accessories dreamed up by far-flung craftspeople). But for one Preston Hollow family, their home is almost entirely the work of one visionary: interior designer Lynn Sears.
From the home’s 1920s-era Mediterranean-accented façade and work-of-art front door, to its creatively designed wood flooring, embroidered and beribboned curtains, stone archways, sumptuous bedding, hand-painted cathedralesque front hallway, indoor and outdoor sconces, and museum-quality kitchen tile mosaic wall—even the decorative brass air-vent grates—all sources point to Sears. In fact, she holds more than 30 original copyrighted designs within the home. “I don’t try to reinvent the wheel,” explains Sears, who is also an accomplished artist. “It’s just that if I can’t find what I’m looking for, I create it.”
Sears, who has worked in Dallas for several decades, is grateful for clients who give her nearly free rein in the creative department. In this case, the family of six wanted a classic home stylish enough for entertaining yet comfortable enough for fast-paced living. They also wanted it in keeping with their California heritage. To accomplish that, Sears embraced the Mediterranean style, which lends itself beautifully to both mind-sets.
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| Lynn Sears designed the trompe l’oeil pattern that graces the Gothic-style vaulted arched ceiling in the home’s main hallway. With stone columns and reclaimed antique French limestone flooring, the hallway beautifully divides the living room from the bar and study. Casting a heavenly light are a trio of medieval-style chandeliers. |
Mediterranean-style architecture is apparent from the very start of the 12,000-square-foot residence: the foyer. Hmm. Where to turn? Right, down a cathedral-worthy Gothic hallway with arched entrances to flanking rooms? Or left, toward a vaulted-ceiling dining room set at an angle, and then down another corridor toward other living areas, or up a curved stairwell to the second level? The intrigue is not only for added drama, but also for authenticity, Sears says. “It’s not just one big box of a house,” she says of the 3-year-old home. “True Mediterranean houses are designed like little cities, with the central colonnade being the proverbial Main Street. If you’ll notice, each room has its own distinctive entryway, and in many cases the room is at an angle, perhaps even with its own separate roof, so that each space comes across as its own distinct haven,” she says. “That makes the house more fun to live in, more visually interesting, more unpredictable.”
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| (left) Sears. (middle) The bar, reminiscent of a stone cellar, “looks like something you’d find in an old winery,” says Lynn Sears, who designed it to reflect the homeowners’ California roots. (right) “The homeowners wanted an outdoor living room that would feel like an extension of the home itself,” Sears says. That’s why the Italianate architectural style continues here, most notably with the oversized fireplace that anchors a cushy wicker-furnished sitting area. Above the mantel is an antiqued mirror with iron dividers and rosettes, which add Gothic definition. Flanking each side of the mirror are mosaic tile panels designed by Sears. |
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| Arched leaded-glass windows let daylight into the dining room. In the evening, the beauty of an antique French chandelier with rock crystals is illuminated. Embroidered silk fabric walls help prevent the room—with vaulted wood ceilings and bare wood flooring, patterned with distressed white oak, red oak, and walnut—from being an echo chamber. |
In line with the Mediterranean scheme are the colors of gold, terra cotta, and blue-green. “The same palette is used all throughout the home,” Sears says, noting that fabrics were selected for their beauty and softness, as well as their durability and patterns (a great foil for smudges or spills). “This is a house belonging to an active family with an active dog,” Sears says. “We didn’t use any solid fabrics in the whole house.” Also by design, furnishings are grouped closely for more intimate conversations. “I wanted a place where eight people could sit down and talk without shouting.”
The home’s grand yet welcoming philosophy is perhaps best represented in the dining room, which has a dramatically vaulted ceiling. It’s meant to be beautiful, but “purposely not overwrought, like ones in so many grand houses are,” Sears says. “We wanted this one to have an aged, rustic feel.” Helping accomplish that are heavily beamed ceilings and rug-free floors, which show off an intricately laid mix of reclaimed wood—boards of red oak and white oak accented with 1-inch strips of walnut. “We certainly didn’t want to cover up such intricately patterned flooring with a rug,” Sears says. The only drawback? Without a rug, the room would be an echo chamber. So Sears had the walls enveloped with an embroidered silk fabric atop soft padding. Other highlights in the room are its Gothic-style arched glass windows, with mouth-blown glass and irregular lead glazing. The diamond pattern’s lead came dividers feature accidentals, which replicate repair work done on early European windows.
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| At the center of the kitchen’s 7-by-18-foot mosaic marble tile wall—a pattern drawn by Lynn Sears before it took several months for an artisan to craft—is a flower urn featuring a rare blue marble. “I love the mosaic because it’s fun to look at,” says one of the homeowners. “It’s artwork you never get tired of.” Above the mosaic is a hammered copper vent hood with a laser-cut-steel design by Sears. |
Just off the dining room is another artful endeavor—the home’s 700-square-foot Italianate kitchen. Here is yet another striking ceiling, this one reflecting an undulating arched design faced with brick veneer and reclaimed beams. Another head-turner is a 7-by-18-foot mosaic marble tile wall (at its center, an urn of flowers featuring rare blue marble). It took months to create after Sears sketched its multifaceted pattern. “It’s artwork you never get tired of,” she says.
Sears might not get tired of it, but, admittedly, she does get tired. She often works into the wee hours of the morning. Her husband, John, and sons, Chris and Jeff (“my best two designs”), have realized that’s just how it goes with her.
“I’m always working,” says Sears, adding, “Life just turns me on. I’m always looking, thinking, photographing, imagining.” Her goal? “I want any house I create to have people remember it when they leave.” And, of course, “have people wanting to go back again and again.”
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| Mediterranean gold is a soothing color scheme in the master bedroom. It’s reflected in the hand-painted bedside chest, silk window curtains, and the sheer fabric that “adds a soft touch as well as an element of romance” to the iron bed, Sears says. |
styled by and text by Denise Gee
photography by Timothy Kolk
flower by Carol Garner
