Innholdsfortegnelse for Winter 2025 i House Beautiful

HAVING TOO MUCH SPACE SOUNDS like the kind of problem we all wish we had. But in the case of this 17,200-square-foot house in Westlake, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, the struggle of how to make each room feel inviting was real. “Homes of this size can almost feel commercial,” says Janelle Patton, founder of Lark Interiors, who began working with the homeowners shortly after they bought the empty lot. “We wanted this to be the right scale for a family.” Together with architectural lead Alison Ames, Patton designed a home with seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, and an entertaining wing, but almost no hallways. “When rooms open onto each other and you walk through them, it feels cozy,” explains Patton. The bedrooms are also close to each other, so a…

IT WAS A LITTLE RED DOT ON A ZILLOW MAP. That was the first time Serena Dugan laid eyes on the Adirondack-style cottage, nestled into the quiet, coveted corner of Coecles Harbor on Shelter Island. The California-based textile designer and artist, who is also the cofounder of Serena & Lily, had been contemplating a vacation home on the East Coast and asked a local friend to check it out for her. “Get on a plane, right away,” he told her after driving by. She booked a ticket, and the rest is history. “I drove up at dusk, along this narrow strip of road that takes you farther away from civilization into another world,” she recalls. The massive stone fireplace, the sprawling front porch, the silvery reflection of the water: “It…

A HOUSE NEEDS MORE THAN good bones to stand the test of time. This 1920s Mediterranean Revival home in San Francisco’s Presidio Heights also had a fairy godmother in Palmer Weiss. The founder of Palmer Weiss Interior Design transformed the 4,500-square-foot, four-bedroom home in phases over the course of 15 years, rather than in one single sweeping renovation, to make sure it evolved along with the people who own it. “When we originally began, the family had very young children, dogs, and a hectic work life. The home needed to accommodate the practical demands of their everyday life, yet also have some glamour that spoke to their personal style,” Weiss says. Now, “the children are older, and there is less emphasis on durability and more on having spaces that can…

ALEXANDER REID HAS a nonnegotiable rule for all of his design projects: “function first, beauty second.” The renovation of this beach house in Bellport, New York, was no exception. The first order of business was “to define how my clients were going to use the square footage, each and every inch,” he explains. Figuring out the right flow for the family came easily to Reid, who had previously worked on the homeowners’ primary residence, a loft in Tribeca. Now, the clients sought a seaside retreat to escape the bustle of New York City life, relax with their three school-age children, and host their friends and family. In Reid’s view, buying a weekend home is “investing in your family, giving your kids a place to make memories.” To create such a…

LAYERED LIGHTING Multitiered chandeliers are the ultimate room enhancers to add polish to your aesthetic. Perfectly Placed Individual cords allow you to configure this multi-light fixture to suit any space. SOPHISTICATED SOFAS Stop waiting for the kids to grow up and start “adulting” with well-made upholstery that can handle life. Smooth Operator Discreet side controls seamlessly reveal built-in reclining headand footrests. PERENNIAL PLATFORM BEDS Transform your boudoir into a masterpiece with beds that set the mood. Custom Canopy Each curl, cut, and weld on these iron beds is handmade to order in Richmond, Virginia. When Should I Customize It? For a specially sized piece. Your local design store will tell you which brands can change the width, depth, or height (by the inch) to perfectly fit your room. The up-charge…

DESIGN TEAM (and married couple) Heather and Matt French never thought they would leave the home they had built from the ground up. But when their only child, Isla, switched schools and the commute ballooned to nearly an hour each way, the Frenches knew they needed a new place. What they found was a house that was well over their budget and “very 1950s, but not in a good way.” It was, however, only three minutes from school. The couple’s lowball offer was swiftly declined—and then, three weeks later, accepted, giving them a budget for a remodel. “We were like, ‘Oh shit, we’ve got to figure this out,’” Heather says. With Matt’s construction expertise and Heather’s joyful design instincts, the duo set out to reconfigure the house as a comfortable…