When Sara and Corbin See were planning their move to Dallas last year, they knew they wanted to live in Kessler Park. “It’s the landscape, topography, Bishop Arts, and proximity to the Design District,” says Corbin.
“I could come in and make my statement.”
Corbin See
The couple had been living in an old Georgian home in the historic Mesta Park neighborhood in Oklahoma City, and Oak Cliff is of a similar vintage. The house they pounced on, however, had just been designed by architect Eddie Maestri and built by The Ed Jarrett Company as the first spec home in a one-street development. It was an ideal blank canvas for the designing duo.
The son of Oklahoma City interiors guru Carson See, Corbin carries on the family business, Sees Design, with his brother, Ross, in offices here and back home. Their well-heeled clients span two states plus resort towns in Colorado, California, and New Mexico. Corbin’s specialty is furnishings while Sara, the design director at Perennials Fabrics, is the textile expert.
The couple were instantly drawn to Maestri’s bright, open floor plan and wise use of space—especially the seamless flow of the kitchen into the dining and living areas. “It’s smart, careful, considerate, and has design details like floor-to-ceiling windows and the transom moldings over doors—things a normal architect or builder wouldn’t do on a spec home,” Corbin says. “I could come in and make my statement.”
Sees Design describes its aesthetic as “eclectic,” and this home is true to form. The dining room, for instance, is anchored by a round glass table with a rawhide-wrapped bamboo base by McGuire. It’s surrounded by antique Indian ram’s-head dining chairs composed of pressed tin over wood (no, it doesn’t tarnish) and upholstered with tiger-striped velvet from Perennials. Jean de Merry’s spiked Lumiere chandelier punctuates the air, and a Scala Luxury reproduction of a French deco buffet, aglow in resin-coated goatskin, helps frame the space.
“Fabrics are my love language and contribution.”
Sara See
Married 13 years, the Sees acquired most of their furniture together, though the multistyle mix includes his first “bachelor purchase”: the classic Le Corbusier chair he bought after college. “You collect things as you go—antiques, sample sales, floor models,” he explains.
Sara prefers to handle draperies and upholstery. “Fabrics are my love language and contribution,” she says, citing the Porter Teleo drapes in the kitchen; Zak+Fox drapes in the living room; and Perennials textiles for Roman shades, outdoor furniture, and more.
The couple is remarkably simpatico. “I gave him carte blanche because we always have collaborated so much,” Sara explains. “I understand it. If you’re good at what you do, there’s a magic to it. If you remove something, you take away the magic, and I didn’t want to take away the magic.”
