He Needed His Texas Residence 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 in contrast to 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 primarily based in New York. “He actually needed a spot with a ’70s vibe, and groovy.”

Mr. Ferguson and Ms. Story had been mates for years, and after speaking extra about what the home may grow to be, they arrived at a design idea. “It sounds just a little foolish,” mentioned Mr. Ferguson, 55. “But it surely 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 main residence to Texas. He purchased a not too long ago constructed trendy home of about 5,000 sq. toes 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 inbuilt Los Angeles within the mid twentieth century. And its lengthy views throughout a canyon to the town heart reminded him of the Hollywood Hills, a favourite place.

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

However the minimalist inside didn’t really feel just like the form 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 stunned by how energetic Mr. Ferguson needed to make issues.

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

By the point they have been completed, that they had crammed the house with visible surprises. Essentially the most audacious room stands out as 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 traces painted by Caroline Lizarraga.

On one facet, 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 house, 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 below a sinuous espresso desk sculpted from a tree trunk by Adam Birch, a South African artist.

Within the main bed room, she positioned a plump custom-made mattress in opposition to 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 created from a vogue cloth present in Manhattan’s garment district.

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

The interiors have been accomplished in about six months, simply in time to be photographed for Ms. Story’s new ebook, “The Artwork of Residence,” revealed this month by Rizzoli. The associated fee, 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 pleased,” he mentioned. “It’s an incredible 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 spotted she’d performed such an incredible job that I’m just a little reluctant to have events to mess it up,” Mr. Ferguson mentioned with amusing. “Possibly it ought to have been performed in a approach that was rather less wonderful.”

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