Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1076820
61 Hall Arts Residences, slated to open in late 2019, along with residential projects in Hawaii and Bermuda. This month, a new chapter opens: Her first book, Emily Summers: Distinctly Modern Interiors ( R i z z o l i , $ 5 0 ) , debuts February 12. "It was so long in coming — more than 35 years," Summers says. Included is her work on some o f D a l l a s ' m o s t striking modernist residences, including the Predock–designed house on Turtle Creek and a 1957 masterpiece by Edward Durell Stone on Park Lane, the original interiors of which were designed by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings. Summers' own homes in Dallas, Palm Springs, and Colorado Springs are prominently featured, along with Stephen and Elisa Summers' Spanish Colonial–inspired house, on which she collaborated with Santa Barbara architect Marc Appleton. Summers will sign copies of her new tome at Interabang Books Saturday, March 2, at 2 pm. A few things you may not know about Emily Summers — from her obsession with index cards to carting back lighting from Morocco. Card stock. I started going to Paris early in my career. It was before digital cameras or iPhones, so I took my Kodak around and took pictures of all the things I'd seen. I printed two copies of everything I found, then I'd staple an index card on the back and write everything down about it. I organized it all in boxes — it took hours. I learned in grad school to always go to the original source material for any project, and I used that inventory for years. One of my earliest clients was Sally Rosen. I got the job because of all the shoeboxes full of photos I'd taken, shop by shop. Those shoeboxes have since evolved into 300 white vinyl notebooks. Pages that inspire. Star Pieces: The Enduring Beauty of Spectacular Furniture by David Linley introduced me to a lot of the really contemporary designers of the '30s and '40s, who changed the way we thought about furniture. I also read monographs by designers Paul Dupré-Lafon and Gio Ponti, who designed timeless furnishings that glide right into any environment. Someone to believe in. Antoine Predock opened up a lot of doors for me. He said, 'I have to do all these bathrooms, but if I do them, they'll just all be black granite. Why don't you take over all the baths and have some fun?' The best architects are collaborative. Working with him was an endorsement that brought validation to my work. Perfectly imperfect. One of the inherent dangers in decorating is the too-perfect room — the space that's been so over-managed that it doesn't come to life. I always throw in a really sculptural piece of furniture, like an Edward Wormley tall-back chair. It's important to have things that are interesting to look at as well as being functional. All in the family. Elisa and Stephen Summers [my son and daughter-in-law] love the Spanish architecture of Highland Park Village, so when they were building their house, they asked me to do an architectural search. Marc Appleton in Santa Barbara and I had become pals from the AD 100 list, and he had written several books on California Mission architecture, including that of George Washington Smith. We toured houses with him, and then Elisa and I went to Morocco together to look for tiles. It was so much fun in the souks, looking for carpets in the basements. We came back with 16 different kinds of lighting that we based designs on. The eye must travel. I'd love to go back to Japan — it's been 10 years. I also want to go back to Helsinki with its incredible contemporary architecture and Scandinavian design. I just recently was in Germany. Every year, we make some sort of pilgrimage to a place we've never been before: Fallingwater, a Palladian villa, early-5th-century ruins, or the Mackintosh in Glasgow. Palm Springs is the Williamsburg of mid-century design; Modernism Week is coming up, and I'll be there signing my book and doing a window. Custom gate designed by Aaron Rambo and made by San Miguel artisans Emily Summers collaborated on a Dallas house designed by architect Antoine Predock. The concrete wall outside the guest bedroom includes a 2000 construction by artist Liz Larner. Emily Summers commissioned a custom wall mural by John-Paul Philippe for the living room of a Dallas house by architect Bud Oglesby. Emily Summers