A Dallas Home with Tropical Parisian Flair
Today’s home tour has me positively giddy… It happens to have been built by my very favorite architect, Wilson Fuqua, whose work I have featured numerous times on the blog. The interior designer is Carla Fonts Hrncir, founder of Dunbar Road Design in Dallas. A fellow SMU alumna, Carla’s firm is named after a street in Palm Beach where her parents lived after being exiled from Cuba in 1958.
Most of Fuqua’s architectural aspects were complete when Carla and her team began their work. The home is a Parisian style, but the homeowner loved the idea of incorporating Palm Beach aspects with colorful patterns, wallpapers, etc. to create a tropical Parisian paradise. “We love expressing design through a mixture of cultures, colors, and architectural features,” Carla told The Glam Pad. “I wanted each room to be impactful while still having a smooth transition from room to room so that they all coordinated to some extent.”
Carla’s mother came from a prominent Cuban family who appreciated the finer things in life. She had impeccable taste and paid attention to the smallest details… The apple clearly did not fall far from the tree! A Dallas native, Carla and her family summered in Miami and Palm Beach where the glamorous Gatsby-era homes made a lasting impression. “I loved how they pulled together different styles, mixing traditional pieces with bohemian and modern. I wanted to bring more of that feel to Dallas while also making the home reflect my client,” Carla told Luxe Dallas.
The homeowner loves color and patterns, and she wanted her home to be eclectic, fun, and cheerful. For two years, Carla and her team worked tirelessly to perfect every single detail. “Our goal was to make the home feel curated and lived in,” Carla told The Glam Pad. “I loved collecting items from Italy, Palm Beach, and local Dallas stores to bring different elements of design to each space. I didn’t want the home to feel like we went to one store and bought everything!”
The exquisite architecture is “a composite of a walk through Paris combining the best parts of Mansard roofs, town houses, and details of doors and windows. The house has a composed history, a quality of being developed ad hoc over time to meet the changing needs of the family. Special attention was given to light, views of landscape, and a classical floor plan with an enfilade creating vistas throughout the house,” Wilson Fuqua told The Glam Pad.
This home is featured on the current cover of Luxe Dallas, and additional images have been provided to The Glam Pad courtesy of Dunbar Road Design. Photography is by Costa Christ.
At Home with Designer Blaire Murfree
Blaire Murfree knew from an early age that design was in her blood. “My parents and grandparents used the same interior designer… I think he had a love-hate relationship with me,” she told Luxe Daily. I was extremely opinionated about my bedroom. I vividly remember turning away fabrics he presented because they weren’t ‘true periwinkle’ and read too lavender or too blue. I was 11.” When Blaire moved to Nashville with her husband and two daughters in 2012, they found a Cape Cod-inspired Belle Meade home that was newly constructed using repurposed materials and classical details. New build was not the couple’s first choice, but the architect’s attention to historic reference won them over.
For the interiors, Blaire brought classic pieces into every room including family heirlooms and prized antiques to add a sense of history and timelessness. She introduced midcentury furnishings, modern wallpaper, and bold paint colors to create an element of surprise and dose of whimsy. For example, “Painting the woodwork in high gloss played up the traditional bones, but still made it modern,” said Blaire, adding that it’s the ideal backdrop for a prized portrait of Davis’ great-great-grandfather. She also incorporated nontraditional parings such as a burlwood armoire to store china and serving pieces, and an acrylic bar cart to display her silver tea service. The result is a perfect marriage of old and new, traditional and modern… Let’s take a look inside with images from Matt Harrington for Luxe Daily, Leslee Mitchell, and David Hillegas.
Such a beautiful home! To read more about Blaire Murfree, please visit Luxe Daily and Blaire Designs. And for ongoing inspiration, please follow @blairedesignsllc on Instagram.
Style Profile: Ellen Kavanaugh
Ellen Kavanaugh has been practicing interior design in Palm Beach for over ten years. She is known for her crisp color, organic texture, and individual style. With every project, Ellen aspires to marry architecture and interiors by selecting distinct fabrics and finishes, designing custom millwork, and sourcing unique furniture. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Ellen earned her interior design degree in 2004 from Florida State University and completed the National Certification for Interior Designer’s Qualification Exam. In 2015 she started her own boutique design firm based in Palm Beach. Ellen’s portfolio includes recently completed projects in Palm Beach, The Hamptons, Charleston, and Key Largo. Her work appears in House Beautiful, Southern Home, Traditional Home, Luxe, and Modern Luxury Palm Beach.
I am delighted to welcome Ellen to The Glam Pad today for a Style Profile Q&A! All photography is by Brantley Photography unless otherwise noted. Welcome, Ellen!
Q: How would you describe your style, and how has living in Florida influenced your design aesthetic?
A: I like to start with a balanced architectural space, design the necessities with clean lines to lay the foundation then finish it off with eclectic layers that add personality. Maybe you could call it, “minimal eclecticism” I don’t like a lot of “stuff” but I do believe “stuff” adds soul so items have to be chosen wisely and must be incorporated to achieve a successful design. It is far better to have just a few outstanding pieces in a space than too many or none. South Florida is vivid in color and any style pretty much goes. Designing mainly in Palm beach opens up all different types of style to work with; from traditional to modern and everything in between. We design a lot of vacation homes here so clients are willing and excited to take more design risks which is a lot of fun!
Q: When did you know you wanted to pursue a career in interior design?
A: When I was a little girl I used to ride around with my Grandmother to the local thrift stores, estate sales and such to pick for her antique booth she had as long as I can remember. That was when I got the bug for “the hunt”. Antiquing and vintage shopping has always been a passion for me. That, mixed with a love for art, setting the table for holidays and then creating flower arrangements while still in grade school leads me to believe that I think I have always had a desire for interiors and beautiful things. College came around and my mother said , “Hey Ellen, sign up for Interior Design, you would be good at that!”. So I did and realized this was something I would have a passion for the rest of my life…
Q: What designers – past and present – do you most admire?
A: Andrea Palladio for his proportions, Frances Elkins for her daring risks that became staples, Michele Bonan for his classically chic interiors and Jeffery Bilhuber for his ability to create the most layered and comfortable interiors that look effortless.
Q: Where do you find inspiration?
A: Everywhere, always, everyday from anything.
Q: Do you have any favorite fabrics, paints, furnishings, etc. you particularly enjoy incorporating within your designs?
A: Pierre Frey is my favorite fabric House. I am especially loving the Braquenie collection introduced with fresh colors for today’s palette. Vintage and antique furnishings- Why buy new when old is so much more interesting and usually more thoughtfully made.
Q: When beginning work with a new client, where do you begin?
A: I ask the client what they envision for the space and what inspires them. I try my hardest to get inside my clients head aesthetically and then when I am selecting for their space I go to that place in my mind and try to channel their vision or what they would like. I always strive first and foremost to create spaces that are unique to each clients personal aesthetic. An interior that is aligned to an individuals vision of beauty can be life changing to that person to live in that space. I want our clients to feel that sense of fulfillment in their homes. I am not designing for my brand, I am designing for individual styles and striving to make them better. I also like to push the envelope with clients which usually opens their minds up to a new found joy that they didn’t know they had been missing. A pop of anything that is unexpected keeps the energy up.
Q: What are five material luxuries you could not live without?
A: I wouldn’t call these materialistic but they are luxuries to me… my dogs, worn jeans, a crisp linen top, a good straw hat and sandals from Capri. Throw a little jewelry on from Peggy Daven in Palm Beach and I am all set!
Q: When you aren’t busy designing, how do you enjoy spending your time?
A: Being on the water with my husband.
Such an exquisite portfolio!! Thank you, Ellen, for joining us today, and thank you Brantley Photography for the beautiful images! To learn more about Ellen Kavanaugh, please visit her website and follow @ellenkavanaugh and @brantleyphoto for ongoing inspiration.
