He Needed His Texas House to Resemble a ‘Groovy’ Opium Den

When Kirk Ferguson requested Sara Story to design the interiors of his new home in Austin, Texas, his request was not like any she had heard earlier than.

“He needed one thing like an opium den,” mentioned Ms. Story, who spent a lot of her childhood in Texas however is now based mostly in New York. “He actually needed a spot with a ’70s vibe, and groovy.”

Mr. Ferguson and Ms. Story had been pals for years, and after speaking extra about what the home might turn into, they arrived at a design idea. “It sounds a bit foolish,” mentioned Mr. Ferguson, 55. “However it was Lenny Kravitz meets Italian ’60s meets ‘As soon as Upon a Time … in Hollywood.’”

It began when Mr. Ferguson, who labored in funding administration in New York however now focuses his vitality on initiatives associated to the humanities, wildlife conservation and well being and wellness, determined to maneuver his major residence to Texas. He purchased a just lately constructed trendy home of about 5,000 sq. ft on a hillside on the outskirts of Austin, paying about $6 million within the fall of 2021.

The concrete, steel and glass construction, designed by Ravel Architecture, reminded him of the Case Research Homes that modernist architects like Richard Neutra and Pierre Koenig in-built Los Angeles within the mid twentieth century. And its lengthy views throughout a canyon to town heart reminded him of the Hollywood Hills, a favourite place.

“It’s principally a glass-and-concrete field on stilts, hanging off the aspect of a cliff, wanting over town of Austin,” Mr. Ferguson mentioned. “That spoke to my design sensibility.”

However the minimalist inside didn’t really feel just like the type of place the place he belonged. “That’s the place Sara got here in,” he mentioned.

Ms. Story, who’s used to working with eye-catching artwork and design, and daring colours and patterns, was shocked by how energetic Mr. Ferguson needed to make issues.

“A lot of the time, individuals need to play it secure,” she mentioned. “However he was all the time asking for extra shade and extra sample. He actually pushed me out of my consolation zone.”

By the point they had been completed, that they had stuffed the house with visible surprises. Probably the most audacious room will be the bar and lounge going through the pool. Beforehand a crisp white field, its partitions are actually lined by a mural of thick yellow, orange and brown curving strains painted by Caroline Lizarraga.

On one aspect, Ms. Story put in a curvy Seventies chrome bar by Willy Rizzo, which she purchased from an antiques supplier in Belgium. On the opposite, she put in a {custom} sectional couch lined in gold velvet inside a distinct segment lined in mercury mirror.

In the lounge, she put a B&B Italia Camaleonda sectional on the heart of the area, with seating on all sides, envisioning it as an inverted dialog pit.

To create a media room, she enclosed a lined patio with glass, wallpapering the ceiling with a design of hand-painted dots from Porter Teleo and including a shaggy faux-fur rug underneath a sinuous espresso desk sculpted from a tree trunk by Adam Birch, a South African artist.

Within the major bed room, she positioned a plump custom-made mattress towards a wall painted with one other mural by Ms. Lizarraga, this one with smoky ribbons that curl up from the wall onto the ceiling. On the home windows, Ms. Story added ombré wool-and-cashmere curtains over lacy gold-and-purple sheers that she had comprised of a trend material present in Manhattan’s garment district.

For the three different bedrooms — one for every of Mr. Ferguson’s three grown kids after they go to — she chosen a special graphic wallpaper to animate the area. Lastly, within the powder room, she added Londubh Studio wallpaper with mushroom shapes outlined in shiny gold.

The interiors had been accomplished in about six months, simply in time to be photographed for Ms. Story’s new ebook, “The Artwork of House,” revealed this month by Rizzoli. The price, Mr. Ferguson estimated, was greater than $1 million, however he and Ms. Story proceed to search for distinctive items so as to add to the combo.

“I’m very comfortable,” he mentioned. “It’s an awesome place to have individuals over, have a cocktail and watch the solar go down.”

Ms. Story’s design has resulted in only one drawback. “I noticed she’d executed such an awesome job that I’m a bit reluctant to have events to mess it up,” Mr. Ferguson mentioned with amusing. “Perhaps it ought to have been executed in a manner that was rather less wonderful.”

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