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The shuttered mini-window is original to the apartment. Vincent Valdez's pastel on paper Two-Ten, 2012, makes a major impact in the living room. (In 2004, Valdez became the youngest artist to have a one-person show at the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; his second McNay solo, "America's Finest," was on view this past fall.) Magis chairs from KuhlLinscomb flank an African stool from the Chelsea Flea Market in NYC. Standing lighting fixture from Apartment Zero in Washington, D.C. Crate & Barrel silver table holds a faux-coffee sculpture by Whitney Biennial talent Franco Mondini-Ruiz. The narrow-plank oak floors are original to the space. T Ê T E - À -T Ê T E W I T H MISTER SHELTON Geography. Originally from Houston, grew up in New Braunfels. Influences. My most transformative period was a summer studying art, culture and history in Europe when I was 17. Schooling. SMU, where I studied political science, business and art. First job. Winn Morton Designs in Dallas. I began working with him during my last year at SMU and stayed for almost a year after graduating. Winn is an extraordinarily talented and sophisticated costume and scenic designer, and a consummate gentleman. I was fortunate enough to work with him on spectacular productions including Crystal Charity Ball, Mayor's International Ball, Opera Ball and the Tyler Rose Festival, which he still does. He gave me the fortitude to move to NYC, for which I will always be grateful. The road to DSG. Between 2005 and opening in San Antonio in 2009, I worked with two artists/friends on various museum, gallery and art fair shows around the country. Prior to that, I spent many years in marketing, branding and advertising at Nina Ricci, Max Factor, Netscape, and Young & Rubicam in NY, L.A. and SF. "The apogee of Main Street's Spanish episode occurred at the Isabella Court," writes Stephen Fox in AIA Houston's Architectural Guide. Shelton's three-level, 1,200 square-foot space is a receptacle for clean-lined design in dialogue with cutting-edge art. THIS PAGE: Center left: Cocktails and collage: Kelly O'Connor's Never Fail, 2012, hovers over the bar cart in the dining nook. O'Connor, whom Shelton recently exhibited at the Texas Contemporary Fair and the Miami Project Fair, is the it-girl of his lineup. Ceramic dish by Alex Marshall from Barneys New York. Center right: Skin and Bones, a cut-paper collage by Wisconsin-based Michael Velliquette (represented by Shelton), dialogues with Margaret Meehan's cast-aluminum boxing gloves. One of Isabella's original wrought-iron Spanish-style chandeliers is original to the house. OPPOSITE PAGE: Top: The Moorish-style cutout doorways and windows at the entrance foyer, original to Isabella Court, are a hallmark of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. The woolen rug, on wall, hand-woven in Mexico, is Alejandro Diaz's Make Tacos Not War, 2010. Foreground, colored pencil on two sheets of drafting paper by San Antonio-based artist (and 2012 Hunting Prize winner) Leigh Anne Lester. Bottom: A lightbeam falls across the original stucco interior and exteriors; the 1920s-era window opens onto the two-story skylighted patio. Original sink and faucet, still in working order. FEBRUARY| PAGE 27 | 2013 Converting your parents. My parents collected difficult children. Of course, I am referring to my siblings, of which there are two. As far as collecting art, no, they didn't, but they have acquired some formative works since 2009. Biggest break to date: The tale of Vincent Valdez's six-figure suite at the 2011 Texas Contemporary Fair. Vincent, his fiancée and I were at the gallery one evening several months prior to the inaugural Texas Contemporary Art Fair. We were talking about art, what we wanted to do, and what statement we wanted to make. Vincent said that he could produce a new suite of drawings, which he proceeded to describe. Loving the idea, I told him that if he could do that, then I could give him his own booth at the art fair. This is how we ended up with two booths, and Vincent's work was acquired within the first 15 minutes of the opening preview, leaving another stunned collector to ask if he had just missed it by two seconds as he hung up his cell phone. Why you packed up and moved to Houston. What initially prompted the idea was the temporary exhibit we did in Fall 2010 at the Inman Annex in Isabella Court, which is where Devin Borden is now. It was a fantastic experience, and we received an enormously gracious and supportive response from Houston friends, collectors, museums, institutions, artists and enthusiasts. The Texas Contemporary did further cement the idea, but I also felt that if we were to relocate to Houston, it would need to be at Isabella Court. During this time, I had a