by January 26, 2023
I’m so glad Austin’s wonderful Tribeca Interiors Tour is back after a 2-year pandemic hiatus. On the Sunday tour day, I was able to visit 7 featured houses over a picnic lunch courtesy of my touring partner in the 5 hours allotted for the tour. Wow! Seriously, can’t they start this thing at 9 or 10 in the morning? We need time for bathroom breaks, planners.
Anyway, let’s start Part 2 of my coverage ( Part 1 here ) with one of my favorite homes on the tour, don’t-care-what-anyone-thinks personality and beautiful finishes: a jewel-box goth home (somehow it works !) in the South Manchaka neighborhood.
Amity Worrell & Co: Richmond Avenue House
What can I say about this house designed by Amity Worrell & Co.? It’s personality (which leans toward the supernatural and creepy), color, and an extravagant use of chainstitch-design wallpaper from Austin’s own Fort Lonesome blew me away, as did the moon snake rhinestone pattern in the foyer. (Click to see Fort Lonesome’s stunning and Austin-Tatis wallpaper line, which you can find at local supply showrooms.) A white orb sconce hangs high on the wall like a moon, surrounded by fluttering moths. An Egyptian bust and a pair of shiny tusk greet you on a niche shelf
Next, you enter an informal dining room just off the kitchen, with a watercolor-like table (the melting pot of quizzes), round velvet chairs and a long, upholstered banquette. The same Moon Snake rhinestone wallpaper and matching fabric wrap the space in its moody colors and busy patterns. Low on the wall, bats and insects are framed like a taxidermy display.
A moon-like pendant hangs over the table, and teardrop sconces add more lunar energy.
The kitchen surprised me with spring-green cabinets (I expected black), white tile, and white barstools patterned with serrated flowers or leaves. Designer Amity Worrell (in black) greets travelers in the kitchen.
The barstool fabric repeats the wallpaper on the living room’s high ceiling, drawing your eye upwards. Mauve drapes and a purple rug echo the dark-pink pattern of the paper. A chandelier made of (I think) strips of thin, flexible wood hangs overhead, almost like pendant flowers.
A Gothic curio cabinet anchors one end of the room, flanked by green armchairs that look as if they could slide away on folding legs.
I love the sofa fabric and unusual color combo here — burnt orange and mauve.
Instead of finishing the blue wallpaper at the edges of the kitchen cabinets, the designers cut around its design and let it float under the botanical ceiling paper. Here, a spacious hall with arched doors invites you down a surprisingly long corridor through the rest of the house. I heard the designer say that this was a special house when the owner bought it in 2021 and he immediately hired the design team to transform the blank canvas and white walls with wallpaper and personality.
The hallway wallpaper — Fort Lonesome’s Dreamland in Mauve — perfectly accents the arch.
Swapnabhoomi wallpaper details
See how the sewing thread looks? Fort Lonesome specializes in custom chainstitched designs for fabrics, apparel, pillows, etc. They also make prints of some of their designs and turn them into art posters and wallpapers.
A circular mirror in the hall reflects a portrait of Sylvia Plath.
Kurt Cobain hangs by his side – tragic artist companions.
A powder bath takes a break from all the bold wallpaper. Instead, black paint and a black sink let art and light shine through. A painting of Jesus hangs with a glowing, anatomical heart—the Sacred Heart, cleverly rendered.
A goth gallery wall features Morticia Addams, Dracula, Edgar Allan Poe, a haunted house and a hairless cat. I would soon find a resident hairless cat giving me the stink eye, one of several cats wandering quietly among the strangers in their home.
Across the hall, a small study with black bookshelves as you look up to see the acid-green snake wallpaper.
A living room open to the hall features colorful, abstract wallpaper.
The living room leads to an enclosed balcony with pink-stained concrete floors painted with insects, spiders and vines.
There’s the hairless cat, preparing to jump into a purple glider with green botanical cushions.
Let’s take a quick look back at how we came. This expansive hallway with custom leopard-print rugs and bold wallpaper reminds me of a boutique hotel with a modern Victorian feel.
A small black vanity in a moody living room leads to the primary bedroom (left) and bath (right).
A vintage head planter holds tulips in a diamond-paned window sill.
The bathroom has Illuminati Eye wallpaper and black trim.
Rob Hook and Watchful Eye
In the bedroom, black wallpaper with nude women holding hands in a circle (magic, methinks) is combined with an inky black ceiling. A daybed by the window offers more lounging space.
Continuing down the long hall you come to a black bench and more interesting art.
And then the media room appears, a glossy, iridescent, hot-pink-and-purple ceiling atop hunter-green walls. Whoa!
Furnishings include a combination of green-and-black patterned sectional window shades and a ouija-board marble coffee table.
At the end of the hall, two children’s bedrooms have a play area with a bookshelf, rabbit art and a play kitchen.
One of the children’s rooms is hot pink with a tropical botanical wallpaper on the ceiling and black-and-white striped curtains.
Other features of leopard on black background.
Portrait of a wolf dog
The kids’ bathroom is full of color with whimsical botanical-and-dinosaur wallpaper, purple cabinetry, and hot-pink tile in the shower.
The faucet in the basin matches the purple. Bright red hand towels add even more color.
Broken heart art and wallpaper detail
By the back door, in a drop zone for bags and shoes, the hairless cat was waiting for me, still like a statue, staring intently at me. Was it even real? For a moment I wasn’t sure.
Aaaah, how terrible! And funny!
One last peek at a wildly wallpapered laundry room, and it’s time to move on to the next house. What a strange house it was from the outside, its black-and-white exterior giving no hint (except for a stenciled Goth design on the front walk) of what lay inside.
Koffer Taylor Interiors: Norris Drive House
In the next home, located in the Zilka neighborhood and designed by Koffer Taylor Interiors, I admired a beautiful dining room with a glass-bird chandelier and colorful abstract paintings.
A motherroom features gold wallpaper with tropical flora and fauna, framed by black cabinetry.
A peek into the backyard reveals a large cistern in the neighbor’s yard (we saw another one in Part 1). Austin residents are, understandably, very interested in water harvesting. Gardening friends in California have told me that it’s getting a lot less in their drought-stricken state, and I’m wondering why it hasn’t taken off there.
More fun wallpapers in a music niche with records and players, a few books…
…and a prayer vote for rock-and-roll stars.
An origami bison head hangs from a ladder.
And in a kid’s room, an accent wall features a rocket blasting off into space.
Avery Cox Design: Clarksville House
The last home in the Clarksville neighborhood measures just 768 square feet. Decorated by Avery Cox Design for a “modern-day bachelor,” the tiny 1920s bungalow has lots of charm thanks to reclaimed shiplap, windows, and hardwood floors and jewel-toned, clean-lined furniture.
A velvety green banquette surprisingly seats about 8 next to a moody, peacock-blue kitchen. (See the designer’s website for photos.)
Green subway tiles and a marble shower create an elegant scene in the compact bathroom.
Closet, built-in storage and a stacked washer/dryer with room left for a cushioned window seat and window that allows natural light into the tight space.
The little house was absolutely jammed with travelers, and I hurried back to the charming, fenced-in front yard, where a display of succulents in Italian pottery made a nice end to the tour.
To look back at Part 1 of my favorite scenes from the 2023 Tribeca Interiors Tour, click here.
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Plan to join Budding Plant Sale and Festival March 18 at John Fairy Gardens in Hempstead, TX. There will be rare and unique plants, as well as art, ceramics, jewelry, food, drink, music and other entertainment for the whole family. Members have early access and get free. Non-member admission is $5. Children under 12 are free.
Experience a surreal garden at the Zilkar Botanical Garden, with an enchanting neon-art display throughout the park, food and drink, music and dance, surreal performers and interactive art sculptures. Surreal costumes are encouraged! 25% of event proceeds benefit the Zilker Botanical Garden Conservancy. April 6 (VIP Night), April 7-8 and April 13-15 runs from 6:30pm to 11pm.
All material © 2023 by Pam Penick for Excavation. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
