DOBA DAILY

A recently published story from the domiteaux + baggett archives. Visit http://www.dallaschild.com/showarticle.asp?artid=1711 for the article.

Sanctuary: A Perfect Marriage

by Lauren Niebes
Photography by Nick Prendergast
Date Posted 10/05/2011

Brooke Hortenstine is an editor. Not just as a profession, but an editor in the way she lives. Walk into her home, and it’s perfectly curated. You sense that someone creative lives here, and the other someone is into the great outdoors. And you’d be right. “It’s nice to incorporate your husband’s likes into your home,” says the editor-at-large of PaperCity, consultant for Gilt City and mom of 2-year-old Rollins. When it came time to design the interior of Brooke's and husband Blake’s renovated 1950s home, Brooke called on Dallas-based Ty Burks and Christopher Ridolfi of William-Christopher Design to marry her likes with her husband’s in an unmistakable style that is all their own. Antlers included.

Booke's Favorites ...
Accent Pieces Coffee table books with white spines, such as Avedon’s Woman in the Mirror; Assouline’s American Fashionand The Well-Lived Life; and Knopf’s The World in Vogue: People, Parties, Places.
Design Source Jose with Klassic Kustom Upholstery can build furniture from scratch with fabric you supply, usually for less than pieces purchased from major furniture stores. Ring him at 214/747-2331.
Interior Designer Dallas-based Ty Burks and Christopher Ridolfi of William-Christopher Design.
Art Tip I take all of my artwork to Vineyard Frame Design for framing. I typically choose a modern white wood frame, and per Ty and Christopher, float the piece with 6” above, 6” on both sides and 7” below.
Home Furnishings Splurge/Steal Mecox Gardens and Form for splurges; Lost and Found Antiques and White Elephant Antiques for steals
Shelter Magazine My favorite always has, and always will be,Elle Decor

Before the Hortenstines bought their home in the tony Preston Hollow area, the house had a vastly different appearance inside and out. Despite the obvious design flaws and outdated state of the interior, the couple saw potential and started renovations immediately with Mark Domiteaux and Laura Baggett of Domiteaux and Associates. “I’ve always had a vision,” says Brooke, “I think because I’m so optimistic.” The BCBG-clad Brooke (she’s also a brand ambassador for BCBG/MAX AZRIA) points out that there are no dead ends in the house. “I’m an editor—I want everything to be useful."

The home she shares with husband Blake, who sells ranches, is a perfect co-mingling of her glamazon style and his love of the outdoors and is accented by pieces of each of their families’ pasts. Antlers are clustered on walls, taxidermied animal heads hang above an armoire, and a site-specific installation called “Black Buck” by local artistMark Collop is on display in the passageway from their dining room to kitchen. Just take a walk around her home, and she’ll point out chairs from her husband’s family, photos from Alabama (where her mother is from), and even pieces, such as her Lucite, glass and brass custom coffee table, that she designed and had made specifically for the home.

What you won’t see is the trail of wreckage that usually follows a 2-year-old boy. Brooke’s not-a-thing-out-of-place home speaks volumes about the ethos of a woman who orchestrates every design detail herself and refuses to dumb down her style now that she’s happily a mom. There are signs that a little boy lives and runs around here, but it’s only trace evidence. Brooke wants to keep it that way. “I’d rather live with the 364 days that things aren’t broken,” she says. “I will never give up on a visually attractive home because I have a child.”

Correction: 10/05/11

This article has been updated to reflect the following changes:

Ty Burks and Christopher Ridolfi of William-Christopher Design were the ones responsible for integrating Brooke's style and interests with her husband's in the interior design — not Brooke alone — as indicated in an earlier version.