How One Couple Restored Their Preston Hollow Home to Its Former Mid-Century Glory

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder—and thank goodness Eddie Maestri saw the potential in this 1970s home in Preston Hollow.

Not even his husband, Adam Moore, was able to envision what Maestri had planned for the home when they first saw it. “We were living here a year, and Adam finally tells me that when he first walked through the house, he absolutely hated it,” Maestri laughs.  

But Maestri, an architect and owner of his eponymous design studio, was convinced of this new adventure. After growing out of the Lakewood home they built in 2011, the couple had been looking for a while—even considering one of the stately homes on Swiss Avenue. But they just couldn’t land on a space that matched with their midcentury modern aesthetic. They wanted a home with large-scale rooms (yet wasn’t open-concept); a place to entertain; more space for their 9-year-old twin boys, Elliot and Ethan; a larger backyard; and a property with architectural integrity. Influences of New Orleans (the city where Maestri grew up) would be nice, too. All of those boxes proved hard to check. 

Then Maestri spotted their now-home on Trulia. He wasn’t familiar with the quiet Windsor Park community, which is set around an idyllic pond in the Preston Hollow neighborhood. When they drove up, he peeped through the window and spotted white terrazzo tiles, a quintessential midcentury modern finish. (Check.) Then he went around the back and walked up the wrought-iron balcony that reminded him of growing up in Louisiana. (Another check.) They toured the interior, which had been practically untouched since the ’70s—a blank slate. (Check, check.) The sunken living room even won over the youngest members of the family. “The boys were like, ‘Daddy! It reminds me of the house on The Incredibles!’ ” Maestri remembers. Done deal. 

But as renovations go, once they started their cosmetic changes, the couple uncovered more issues. The roof was leaking, the electrical had to be redone, and there were plumbing problems. “It ended up domino-ing into a complete gut,” Maestri says. Almost everything in the house was redone, but Maestri carefully designed every detail to pay homage to the original design and intentions of the home—even referencing the original architect Raymond Lambert’s plans. The primary bathroom is a beautiful example. “I put the arches in the bathroom, and that became a theme throughout the house, based on his drawings,” Maestri says. He also matched the bath’s walnut casings to the living area’s original walnut designs so both sides of the home speak to each other. And as they were demoing the bathroom, they uncovered a palm frond wallpaper, so Maestri chose a referential Cole & Son fern design to replace it. “My goal is for people to not be able to tell what’s original and what isn’t,” Maestri says. “I wanted that feeling of, ‘This could have been here this whole time.’ ” 

Maestri looked to the family’s “happy places” around the globe—Palm Springs, Japan, and New Orleans to name a few—to inform the interiors. They mixed and matched custom pieces from Maestri Studio as well as antiques found on sourcing trips to achieve a collected, modern vibe throughout the house. Shoji sliding doors in the bathroom remind them of their travels to Asia. A surfboard-shaped island in the kitchen is a nod to California. And Maestri designed the bedroom doorways with transoms, which was influenced by his childhood in The Big Easy. 

The final result is a livable, cheerful, and happy home—a place where the family feels like they could be on vacation without ever leaving the house. And yes, Moore approves: “I love it,” he says. “I definitely reap the benefits of Eddie’s talents.”

Holiday Cheers

Eddie Maestri and Adam Moore love to toast to the holidays with their favorite bourbon drink, which is inspired by Dishoom restaurant in London. “Adam makes a few batches of these and puts them in small bottles to give away as gifts,” Maestri says.

Viceroy’s Old Fashioned 

From Dishoom: From Bombay with Love

• 2 green teabags
• 1 cup (220 g) dark brown sugar
• 8 dried bay leaves
• 2 cups (460 ml) spicy bourbon, dry
• 2 tsp Angostura orange bitters
• 1/2 cup (115 ml) filtered water

1. For the reduction, put the teabags into a measuring cup and pour 200 ml (about 3/4 of a cup) of boiling water in. Stir, then leave to infuse for 5 minutes.
2. Put the sugar and bay leaves into a saucepan. Squeeze the teabags, then pour the green tea into the pan, and stir well. 
3. Place over low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then turn the heat up. Allow to bubble and reduce to a thick, dark brown caramel; this should take around 10 minutes. 
4. When the caramel reduction is ready, discard the bay leaves and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes. 
5. Pour the whiskey into a bowl and then add 115 ml (about 1/2 cup) of the green tea reduction. Stir well to combine, then pour into a sterilized bottle. Leave in a cool, dark place for at least one month. 
6. Invert the bottle several times to mix well. Add the Angostura bitters and filtered water. Let stand for 24 hours before drinking.