From traditional to modern, casual elegance dictated style this year
Dec. 26, 2019Updated: Dec. 31, 2019 2:24 p.m.
Jerry Hooker and Jacob Sudhoff fell in love with their Courtlandt Place home in 2016 when it was in serious disrepair. They loved the neighborhood and its history and spent two years returning this stately home to its original grandeur.
Divya Pande
Inside, Sudhoff and Hooker, an architect, went for mostly white and light interiors, but created a moody escape in this front sitting room.
Divya Pande
Kim and Andreas Tolias embarked on a whole-home renovation that turned their little-used living room into a showplace for entertaining. Their interior designer was Fabrice Plantard Decoration.
Marie Dominique Verdier
Plantard applied paneling to a plain staircase wall and added a dazzling contemporary chandelier.
Marie Dominique Verdier
Jay Hurt’s Shadow Lawn home was on Preservation Houston’s 2019 Good Brick Tour. The home is an example of the investment many people are making to restore and preserve historic homes in Houston. The Artisan Group, Dillon Kyle Architects and Lucas Eilers Design Associates formed the design-build team. In the home’s dining room, hand-painted de Gournay wallpaper depicts Hermann Park as it would have looked in 1929.
Peter Molick Photography
Doug and Caroline Bailey’s most recent move was into a more contemporary home and the first piece of art they bought for it was this beautiful chandelier for their dining room. Cindy Witmer Designs was their interior designer.
Kerry Kirk
The couple loves the Beverly Hills Hotel, so they channeled its vibe in this extra bedroom just off of their backyard patio and pool. Slim Aarons photographs, Jonathan Adler’s Chippendale-style chairs and Dorothy Draper Braziliance pillows do the work.
Kerry Kirk
Oversized floral wallpaper provides a “wow factor” in the dining room of Andy and Susan Smith’s Memorial area home. Their team included architect Brandon Breaux Design and interior designer Talbot Cooley Interiors.
Nathan Schroder
A small “jewel box” area was created on the side of the Smiths’ master bedroom, where a chaise provides a great place to rest or read.
Nathan Schroder
Interior designer Janet Gust loves a mix of antique, vintage and contemporary pieces in the home she shares with her husband, Rick Gregory.
Peter Mollick Photography
Gust’s master bedroom is done in high contrast black and white.
Peter Mollick Photography
Harlan and Cynthia Lane updated their Memorial home, adding this gorgeous Greek key design wallpaper to the foyer. Nest Design Group was their interior designer.
Julie Soefer
Gerald Johnson Jr.’s Dickinson home was devastated by several feet of water in Hurricane Harvey. His designer, Jacob Medina of Medina Designs, turned the traditional home into a much more contemporary space.
Kerry Kirk
Dark blue-gray paint — Sherwin-Williams’ Debonair — made a dramatic change in Johnson’s study.
Courtesy of Medina Designs
Much of the furniture in the home of Steve Clifton, owner of Scene One Interiors, is by designer Christopher Guy.
Yi-Chin Lee, Staff / Staff photographer
A 17-foot custom Swarovski crystal chandelier by Elegant Lighting hangs from the fourth floor in Clifton’s townhome.
Yi-Chin Lee, Staff / Staff photographer
Pam and Bill Nelson’s new home was in the 30th annual Bellaire New Home Showcase.
Analicia Herrmann
The Nelsons wanted plenty of color in their home and their designer, Chairma Design Group, suggested this shade of green for the kitchen cabinets. Their builder was Stone Acorn Builders.
Analicia Herrmann
Brick on a vaulted ceiling is the backdrop for this 24-light gold chandelier in Greg and Denise Savage’s new home in Meadow Glen.
Aaron Raney / Rockbait.com
Macy and Mayes Middleton wanted their three sons to grow up with the same childhood experiences that Mayes had, so after renting a home in Galveston’s Beachtown, they bought their own. Middleton is the state representative for District 23, which includes Galveston and Wallisville, where their primary home is. Mark Ashby Design was the interior designer.
Clay Grier
Design blogger Carly Lee and her husband, Jon, love color, so their interior designer, Ashley Goforth Design, installed this apple green grasscloth wallpaper in the foyer.
Kerry Kirk
The new phase of life for Matt and Christy Galtney shifted them to the 15th floor of The River Oaks high-rise condominiums. Their decor is very contemporary, with modern touches like these Mies van der Rohe Brno chairs around a Saarinen tulip table. Ginger Barber Interior Design handled interiors.
Michael Hunter Photography
The condo has a library niche with a pair of Barcelona chairs.
Michael Hunter Photography
Hurricane Harvey reduced Sandy and Dr. J.J. Diaz’s Rockport home to a pile of rubble. The San Antonio couple rebuilt the home for their retirement. In addition to a great view of Copano Bay, the living room has a fireplace, a pair of white sofas and blue chairs, all with a coastal feel. Rainey Richardson Interiors was their designer.
Braun Photography
Historic preservation is gaining traction in a city known for demolishing old buildings. this building, originally a home for elderly women and later Adkins Architectural Antiques, got a massive renovation and restoration and the stately building on Fannin Street in Midtown is now home to the Hochglaube Law Firm.
Hester + Hardaway, Photographer / Photograph by Paul Hester
An interior photo shows the 100-year-old woodwork inside the law firm.
Hester + Hardaway, Photographer
Murray Snow had always lived in sprawling suburban homes and decided to shift to a townhome inside the loop near Memorial Park. Big windows fill the home with light, and this living room gained an impressive, 18-piece art installation. Their interior designer is Missy Stewart of Missy Stewart Designs.
Jeffrey Djayasaputra / Bayou City 360, Photographer/Owner
Marci and Mark Arnold brightened up their Boulevard Oaks Craftsman-style home with lighter colors. Their first-floor renovation started with a kitchen remodeling project and ended up extending through the whole floor. Their interior designer is Missy Stewart of Missy Stewart Designs.
Bayou City 360, Photographer/Owner
Using the rug as the color inspiration, designer Lynne T. Jones created this colorful sitting area in the Sugar Land home of Jeanne and Jeff Megna.
Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
The couple’s Scottish Terriers are the perfect accessories for the room.
Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
Former Channel 2 “Buzz Lady” Roseann Rogers and her husband Aashish Shah bought a 1960 ranch home in Del Monte and updated it with a more contemporary look. Allie Wood Design Studio was their interior designer.
Kelli Durham
When Will Holder retired as president of Trendmaker Homes, he headed to San Marcos, where he and wife Lana, built their retirement dream home. Will Holder is a proud Texas State University alum and had kept a smaller home there for years. The neutral main living area has a tall ceiling with open trusses.
Dror Baldinger
The Holders’ Hill Country home is Mediterranean style and sits on a bluff with a beautiful view of a nature preserve in back.
Dror Baldinger
Interior designer Hallie Henley Sims and her husband, William Sims, filled their Heights home with plenty of color. Hallie Sims is an interior designer who embraces color, another big trend this year.
Jack Thompson
Bruce Minsky and Connie Kissinger’s very modern home in Boulevard Oaks is a testament to their love of natural materials, such as concrete, and their devotion to modern design. The second floor that hangs over the driveway is also a marvel of engineering. The home was designed by Robertson Design.
Jack Thompson
Shifting from traditional homes to townhomes or townhomes to high rises was a big trend among empty nesters and retirees wanting less home maintenane and a lock-and-leave lifestyle. Lisa Spain and Harry Bassist moved into this condo in The Bristol and shifted to more modern design for this midcentury building.
Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
Spain and Bassist love contemporary art, and filled their home with it, sometimes in clever ways. The piece at right, by Stallman Studio, covers up the electrical breaker box in the kitchen.
Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
Many homeowners have a good eye for design and know what they like, but can’t quite add the polish that finishes a room. Amy Roddy is one of those people, and she hired interior designer Meg Lonergan to provide finishing touches in several rooms, as well as completely redo the home’s bathrooms. This foyer went from drab to fab with charming wallpaper, an antique dresser, art and blue and white porcelain.
Kerry Kirk
The dining room is one of the rooms Amy and Jason Roddy felt was “half done.” Lonergan added draperies and wallpaper and reupholstered the chairs.
Kerry Kirk
Formal dining rooms often are a little-used room in a home, but plenty of people this year put extra effort into this room, with interesting wall treatments, chandeliers and accessories. In Lauren and Jason Long’s Memorial home, designer Paloma Contreras used chinoiserie wallpaper and a crystal chandelier.
Kerry Kirk
Parents of young children often think they can’t have anything nice until their kids are grown. Not so at the Norhill home of Gabe and Bridget Vick, who opted for performance fabrics in blue and white with pops of red here and there. Emily C. Butler was their interior designer.
Emily C. Butler
Lunden and Brooke McGill hired Haley Ottmann and Brigitte Howell of Home Girls Design to renovate their 1950s Spring Valley home, removing internal walls for a more open floor plan. Anyone else would likely have torn down the old house but the McGills saw a future in the home’s good bones.
Photography by Haley Ottmann; Photo styling by Renovate
Marc and Julie Cuenod moved to a new home in Tanglewood and furnished it with a lot of new things that are dog-friendly. Een the sofa, which one of their dogs has taken ownership of the sectional sofa in the family room.
Max Burkhalter
Houstonians Jason Fertitta and Courtney Hill Fertitta built a guest house at their Brenham ranch with casual luxury. Courtney, an interior designer, owns Courtney Hill Interiors.
Julie Soefer
Matthew Moore took a leap of faith when his very creative wife Ashley said she could turn an earth tone-heavy home into the modern farmhouse style they loved. She did — and she launched a business as an interior designer when friends kept asking how she did it.
Grace Laird
Randy and Shari Ziebarth hadn’t lived in their Kingwood home long when it was flooded by Hurricane Harvey. They returned much of their home to its previous status, but added more wallpaper and a little more color, replacing a brown leather sofa with this one in deep turquoise. Their designer — both times — was Pamela O’Brien of Pamela Hope Designs.
Julie Soefer
We could call 2019 a year to return to color. Sarah Steward and Duane Bever embraced blues, greens and bright yellow in their home in The Woodlands. This powder bathroom had charming wallpaper with a blue-green pattern. Their interior designer was Karen Davis of Marker Girl.
Marker Girl
2019 was a big year for architecture and home design, as new home went up all over the city and many people shifted from labor-intensive homes to lock-and-leave high-rise living. With each new home and each new move came new furnishings, accessories and, for many people, new art. Here’s a gallery of the most beautiful homes I’ve seen in the past year.
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