Above left: Custom-designed banquette seating by Lee Lormand upholstered in Innovations: Sierra faux leather; table, vintage Saarinen base with custom oval quartzite top; custom Sahco/Bahia pillows; custom cantilevered acrylic shelves with LEDs by Lee Lormand displaying vintage Nelson McCoy pottery; succulents by Lauren Lightfoot, Grange Hall. Above right: Ford Beckman, Pop Target, 2012, oil with high gloss industrial finish; Athos wall unit, by Paolo Piva for B&B Italia; Penta Chairs, by Toan Nguyen for Viccarbe; hand-knotted Tibetan wool and silk Billboard rug from Tamarian Rugs; Kitchen designed by Lee Lormand with customcolored lacquer-front cabinets, and custom-colored back-painted glass backsplash.
Lee Lormand of Lee Lormand Design. While impressed with Lormand’s classical training, his serene design aesthetic clearly also resonated with them. Both designer and client stress that this project was highly collaborative. Prior to moving to Dallas, the homeowners lived in Houston’s historic Shadyside neighborhood in a traditional home built by John Staub in 1938. Looking for a clean slate, they left tradition behind when they moved to North Texas. Lormand first visited them in Houston and took a full inventory of the house. He says, “From that, we spoke about which pieces they wanted.” Only four or five pieces of furniture made the cut. Of what was left behind, a few pieces went to a second home. Between an estate sale and auction, they divested themselves of everything else. As a result, much of the art and furniture is newly acquired. On first glance, some of the artwork looks as minimal as the space it inhabits. But as with the rest of this environment, a closer look reveals an entire universe. In the dining area, a painting from Christian Eckart’s Sacre Conversazione series appears to be a pure color field surface, created with layers of lacquer on aluminum. However, the title of the series is derived from the Italian Renaissance artistic tradition of painting sacred conversations between the Virgin Mary and saints from differing time periods. Eckart’s influences include Kazimir Malevich, Barnett Newman, and Ad Reinhardt.
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But an exhibition of the 16th century master Correggio at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York captivated him. Using Correggio’s images as a starting point, he eliminated the figures and rendered the composition into a series of abstracted vertical bands of color. On an adjoining wall, an heirloompainted Chinese scroll depicting the seven immortals having tea in a garden provides a similar composition to the Correggio paintings that inspired Eckart. While 300 years separate the two works, their juxtaposition is fresh and coherent. These paintings frame a dining area whose disparate elements form a cohesive whole. The T-chairs, designed by William Katavolos and dating from 1952, surround the table. Lormand says they found them at the Wright Auction Gallery, which specializes in 20th century furniture. It reminded the homeowners of a saddle. Since they now live in Texas, it seemed like an appropriate nod to the state. Lormand designed the gray glass tabletop to sit atop the Aracnida base by Barcelona Design, bringing all of these elements together. Illuminating the table from above is one of Ingo Maurer’s Flying Flames chandeliers. This lighting system, whose light is provided by LED candles, contributes to the overall sense of flotation throughout the space. The kitchen is around the corner. It underwent a complete renovation, designed by Lormand. The homeowners say, “We were looking for a little surprise when you walk into the